Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Salmagundi
Salˊma-gun′di
,Noun.
[F.
salmigondis
, of uncertain origin; perhaps from L. salgama condita
, pl.; salgama
pickles + condita
preserved (see Condite
); or from the Countess Salmagondi
, lady of honor to Maria de Medici, who is said to have invented it; or cf. It. salame
salt meat, and F. salmis
a ragout.] 1.
A mixture of chopped meat and pickled herring, with oil, vinegar, pepper, and onions.
Johnson.
2.
Hence, a mixture of various ingredients; an olio or medley; a potpourri; a miscellany.
W. Irving.
Webster 1828 Edition
Salmagundi
SALMAGUN'DI
,Noun.
A mixture of chopped meat and pickled herring with oil, vinegar, pepper and onions.
Salmiac, a contraction of sal ammoniac.
Definition 2024
salmagundi
salmagundi
English
Alternative forms
Noun
salmagundi (plural salmagundis)
- A food consisting of chopped meat and pickled herring, with oil, vinegar, pepper, and onions.
- Hence, any mixture of various ingredients; an olio or medley; a potpourri; a miscellany.
- 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 544:
- Partly too it reflected the nature of Revolutionary politics throughout the 1790s, which was invariably a kind of inspired bricolage, which involved yoking together a wide range of pre-existent elements into an unanticipated and constantly changing salmagundi of political forms.
- 2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review [print edition: Illuminating language]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), page R29:
- This is not, however, a mere salmagundi of alphabetical arcana.
- 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 544:
Synonyms
- (mixture of various ingredients): miscellany, olio, potpourri
References
- salmagundi in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913