bouillabaisse

the word 'bouillabaisse' entered english in the mid-19th century from the occitan language of southern france, specifically the provençal dialect 'boui-abaisso'. this phrase is a compound of the imperative 'boui' (meaning 'boil!') and 'abaisso' (meaning 'stop!', 'lower!', or 'settle!'), literally instructing one to boil and then lower the heat to let the stew simmer. the dish itself is a traditional fisherman's stew from the port city of marseille, originally made with the bony rockfish that were unsellable at the market. the name perfectly captures the essential two-step cooking method that defines the dish, preserving its cultural and culinary logic as it was adopted into english.

this word is a loanword from occitan (provençal) and is not productively segmented into meaningful morphemes in english. its form is borrowed as a whole.