ketchup, or catsup

[KatyBr]

ketch·up (kchp, kch-) also catch·up (kchp, kch-) or cat·sup (ktsp, kchp, kch-)
n.
A condiment consisting of a thick, smooth-textured, spicy sauce usually made from tomatoes.



[Probably Malay kicap, fish sauce, possibly from Chinese (Cantonese) k-chap, equivalent to Chinese (Mandarin) qié, eggplant + Chinese (Mandarin) zh, sap, gravy.]
Word History: The word ketchup exemplifies the types of modifications that can take place in borrowingboth of words and substances. The source of our word ketchup may be the Malay word kchap, possibly taken into Malay from the Cantonese dialect of Chinese. Kchap, like ketchup, was a sauce, but one without tomatoes; rather, it contained fish brine, herbs, and spices. Sailors seem to have brought the sauce to Europe, where it was made with locally available ingredients such as the juice of mushrooms or walnuts. At some unknown point, when the juice of tomatoes was first used, ketchup as we know it was born. But it is important to realize that in the 18th and 19th centuries ketchup was a generic term for sauces whose only common ingredient was vinegar. The word is first recorded in English in 1690 in the form catchup, in 1711 in the form ketchup, and in 1730 in the form catsup. All three spelling variants of this foreign borrowing remain current.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words AntonymsNoun 1. ketchup - thick spicy sauce made from tomatoes
catsup, cetchup, tomato ketchup
condiment - a preparation (a sauce or relish or spice) to enhance flavor or enjoyment; "mustard and ketchup are condiments"
I like a word that has to disparate spellings

Kt

[tcward]

Whenever I hear the word 'ketchup', I always think of the funny sketches on Prairie Home Companion with the make-believe Ketchup Advisory Board.

Here's a link to a sample.

-Tim