curry
UK[ˈkʌri]US[ˈkɜːri]
n
a dish of meat, vegetables, etc., cooked in a spicy sauce, often served with rice, and originally from south asia.
v
to prepare or flavor (food) with a mixture of pungent spices.
v
to groom (a horse) with a special comb.
Etymology
the english word 'curry' is a fascinating example of linguistic borrowing and simplification. it entered the english language in the late 16th century from tamil, a dravidian language of southern india, where 'kaṟi' meant 'sauce' or 'relish for rice'. the term was adopted and generalized by the british in india to refer to a wide variety of spiced dishes. the verb sense relating to grooming a horse is entirely separate, originating from the old french 'correier', meaning 'to arrange, prepare, or curry', which itself has germanic roots. the convergence of these two distinct etymological paths into a single english spelling is a historical coincidence.
Analysis
this word is a loanword with a simplex structure in english. it does not lend itself to segmentation into productive morphemes based on its current english spelling.
Examples
we had a delicious chicken curry for dinner last night.
she learned to curry the meat with a blend of turmeric, cumin, and coriander.
the stable hand would curry the horse's coat until it shone.