piccalilli
Plural: piccalillis
Noun
- relish of chopped pickled cucumbers and green peppers and onion
- A yellow pickle relish made from cauliflower, vegetable marrow, and other vegetables, pickled with vinegar, salt, sugar, and spiced with mustard, turmeric, and other spices.
- A pickle, typically on a base of chopped green (unripe) tomatoes, but sometimes finely-chopped gherkins, and possibly including other vegetables.
Origin / Etymology
First attested in the from 1845. Unknown. Presumably variant of pickle, which itself is from Middle English pekille (“spicy sauce served with meat or fish”) or pikel, from Middle Dutch pekel (“brine”); perhaps influenced by dialectal variants.
Alternatively, may be related to paco lilla (“ginger-spiced pickle”), in 18th century British cookbook The Art of Cookery (1747–1843; e.g., 1805 edition) by Hannah Glasse (1708–1770), also referred to as “Indian pickles”, which suggests an Indo-Aryan source; compare mulligatawny, of Tamil origin, which also features turmeric prominently, and curry, of Tamil or Middle English origin (or blend). No relation to Piccadilly.
Synonyms
India relish, chow-chow, relish
Scrabble Score: 16
piccalilli: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordpiccalilli: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
piccalilli: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary