chowder
Meaning
A thick soup or stew containing fish, clams, or other seafood, often made with milk or tomatoes, potatoes, and onions.
Usage
The New England clam chowder was creamy and full of tender potatoes.
For dinner, we had a hearty corn and smoked fish chowder.
Every coastal town seems to have its own secret recipe for seafood chowder.
Etymology
The word 'chowder' entered English in the mid-18th century from North American French, specifically the term chaudière, meaning "a pot or cauldron." This French word itself derives from Late Latin caldāria, a noun related to cooking vessels, from Latin caldārius ("pertaining to warming"), and ultimately from calidus ("hot"). The culinary logic is direct: the dish is named after the pot in which it was traditionally cooked. The modern meaning evolved from the communal practice of making a hearty, mixed seafood stew in a large pot or cauldron for gatherings.
Analysis
This word is a loanword adopted as a single, unanalyzable unit in modern English.