Welsh rarebit

English

Etymology

Corruption of Welsh rabbit.

First attested by Francis Grose in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue in 1785; he erroneously marked Welsh rabbit as a corruption (inverting the historical order); this idea may have originated with him, or been widespread at the time.[1]

Pronunciation

Either identically to rabbit, or as rare-bit.

Noun

Welsh rarebit (countable and uncountable, plural Welsh rarebits)

  1. A dish of cheese melted with a little ale and served on toast.
    • 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 25, in Crime out of Mind‎:
      Afterwards there was apple-pie and cream and a welsh rarebit. Peregrine said it was almost up to prison fare.

Usage notes

Some object to the use of the term “Welsh rarebit” as a foolish error, and prefer Welsh rabbit.[2]

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations
Translations

References
  1. "When Francis Grose defined Welsh rabbit in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue in 1785, he mistakenly indicated that rabbit was a corruption of rarebit. It is not certain that this erroneous idea originated with Grose....", Dictionary of English Usage, p. 592
  2. "Welsh Rabbit is amusing and right. Welsh Rarebit is stupid and wrong.", Fowler, H. W., A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, Oxford University Press, 1926
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