À la carte

For other uses, see À la carte (disambiguation).
For the custom car, see Ala Kart (custom car).
Steak à la carte

À la carte /ɑːləˈkɑːrt/[1] is an English language loan phrase meaning "according to the menu."[2][3] It was adopted from French in the early 19th Century and refers to "food that can be ordered as separate items, rather than part of a set meal."[4]

The phrase is used in reference to a menu of items priced and ordered separately, i.e., the usual operation of restaurants. This is in contrast to a table d'hôte, where a menu has limited or no choice of items and is served at a fixed price.[5] It may also be used to order an item from the menu on its own, e.g., a steak without the potatoes and vegetables is steak à la carte.

History

The earliest examples of à la carte in writing are from 1816 for the adjectival use ('à la carte meal', for example) and from 1821 for the adverbial use ('meals were served à la carte').[2] These pre-date the use of the word menu which came into English in the 1830s."[6][7][2]

Other uses

More broadly, the term is not exclusive to food. Today, it can be used in reference to things such as television. To watch television à la carte refers to paying for a provider where the viewer can choose from an option of programs to watch (i.e. Netflix or HBO), instead of watching from set programs.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "A la carte". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 1 2 3 Oxford English Dictionary
  3. ↑ "à la carte – definition of à la carte in English from the Oxford dictionary". oxforddictionaries.com. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "à la carte – definition of à la carte in English from the Oxford dictionary". oxforddictionaries.com. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Online Etymology Dictionary". etymonline.com. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Richard Bailey, Eating Words, Michigan Today, 13 May 2008. Archived May 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Menu, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Houghton Mifflin
  8. ↑ "A-la-Carte Cable TV Is Basically Here (It's Just Not on Cable) – The Simple Dollar". The Simple Dollar. Retrieved 2 May 2016.

Further reading

External links

Look up à la carte in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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