Definitions

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

  • noun A substance, such as a relish, vinegar, or spice, used to flavor or complement food.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Something used to give relish to food; a relish; seasoning; sauce.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Something used to give relish to food, and to gratify the taste; a pungment and appetizing substance, as pepper or mustard; seasoning.

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

  • noun Something used to enhance the flavor of food; salt or pepper for example.

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

  • noun a preparation (a sauce or relish or spice) to enhance flavor or enjoyment

Etymologies

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

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin condīmentum, from condīre, to season; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin condimentum, from condire ("to preserve, pickle, season"). See condite and compare recondite.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Long conversation on barbecue.

    June 12, 2009

  • "Before 1500, seasoning; earlier, a pickling fluid (probably 1440); borrowed from Middle French condiment, from Latin condimentum spice, from condire to preserve, season, a variant (perhaps influenced by sallire to salt, preserve) of condere to make, build, lay up, store, preserve (con- together + -dere to put, place)."

    - The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology

    June 22, 2010