Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A square doughnut with no hole.
  • noun A fritter.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A fritter composed of various ingredients.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun UK fritter (with a fruit or vegetable filling)
  • noun US A Louisiana style fried donut or fritter covered in powdered sugar.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a deep-fried, yeast-raised doughnut dusted with confectioners' sugar

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, fritter, from Old French, from diminutive of beigne, bump, lump, of Celtic origin; akin to Welsh bôn, stump, base.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Louisiana French beignet, from Middle French bignet, from Old French bignet ("fried dough enveloping a food substance"), a diminutive of Old French bigne, bugne, buyne ("lump, swelling"), from Old Frankish *bungjo (“lump, bump, swelling”), from Proto-Germanic *bungô, *bunkô (“lump, heap, crowd”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (“thick, dense, fat”). Cognate with Old High German bungo ("swelling, tuber"; > German Bunge), Dutch bonk ("lump, clump"), Gothic  (buggja, "tuber, swelling"). Related to bun, bunk, bunch, bunion. Also connected to Gaulish *bunia and Gaelic bonnach "cake, biscuit."

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word beignet.

Examples

  • Well, a little powdered sugar on some fried dough, you've got what they call a beignet in New Orleans.

    CNN Transcript Oct 19, 2005 2005

  • But what was more disheartening than watching a defense that a lot of people, myself included, believed had shown signs of evolving into a championship caliber unit, be picked apart like a beignet was the Patriots downright un-Patriotic play in all three phrases of the game, from poor throws to busted coverages to missed field goals.

    Boston.com Most Popular 2009

  • There's a tiny lump of foie on the inside of this sweet beignet which is pate a choux dough, deep-fried, right?

    Day 78: Hors D'oeuvres Extravaganza Vanessa 2007

  •   A beignet is a kind of fried French-style doughnut. "

    Taste of New Orleans Returns 2010

  • That’s called a beignet — great with an iced cafe au lait when you’re hammered after a night in the French Quarter. steve duncan Says:

    Matthew Yglesias » The View From Your Breakfast 2007

  • Servings of the mocha beignet ($10) and the Earl Grey crème brûlée with lemon-lime sorbet ($10) are small enough to not invoke too much guilt.

    French Accents Monica Williams 2011

  • Chuckling, he polished off his beignet and brushed sugar from his hands.

    Etched in Bone Adrian Phoenix 2011

  • Breaking off a couple of pieces from the beignet, he tossed them in front of the optimistic pigeons.

    Etched in Bone Adrian Phoenix 2011

  • Chuckling, he polished off his beignet and brushed sugar from his hands.

    Etched in Bone Adrian Phoenix 2011

  • Breaking off a couple of pieces from the beignet, he tossed them in front of the optimistic pigeons.

    Etched in Bone Adrian Phoenix 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.