congee
English
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɑndʒi/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɒndʒiː/
Etymology 1
From Old French congié (modern congé), from Latin commeātus (“passage, permission to leave”), from commeō (“I go and come”), from con- + meō (“I go, I pass”). Figurative senses generally borrowed from developments in French.
Noun
congee (plural congees)
- Leave, formal permission for some action, originally and particularly:
- (obsolete) Formal permission to leave; a passport.
- (obsolete) Formal dismissal; (figuratively) any dismissal, (originally and particularly humorously ironic) abrupt dismissal without ceremony.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.i:
- So courteous conge both did giue and take,
With right hands plighted, pledges of good will.
- So courteous conge both did giue and take,
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.i:
- (obsolete) Formal leavetaking; (figuratively) any farewell.
- (obsolete, Scotland) A fee paid to make another go away, (particularly) alms to a persistent beggar.
- (archaic) A bow, curtsey, or other gesture (originally) made at departure but (later) including at greeting or in obeissance or respect.
- 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
- As salutations, reverences, or conges, by which some doe often purchase the honour, (but wrongfully) to be humble, lowly, and courteous […].
- 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:
- “My daughter Rebecca, so please your Grace,” answered Isaac, with a low congee, nothing embarrassed by the Prince’s salutation, in which, however, there was at least as much mockery as courtesy.
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Derived terms
- give congee
- take congee
Verb
congee (third-person singular simple present congees, present participle congeeing, simple past and past participle congeed)
- (archaic) To give congee, particularly
- (archaic) To take congee: to leave ceremoniously.
- (archaic) To make a congee: to bow, curtsey, etc., particularly (dialectical) while leaving; (figuratively) to make obeissance, show respect, or defer to someone or something.
Etymology 2
From Tamil கஞ்சி (kañci), perhaps via Portuguese.
Alternative forms
Noun
congee (usually uncountable, plural congees)
Synonyms
- rice porridge; rice congee (hypercorrect)
- (Chinese English): porridge
Derived terms
Translations
a type of rice porridge
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See also
References
- "congee | congé, n.²" & "v." in the Oxford English Dictionary, 1891.
Anagrams
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