chowder

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a rich, thick soup or stew, commonly made with fish or shellfish, potatoes, and milk or cream

   We ordered a bowl of clam chowder after walking along the cold harbor.

2. 2
   noun

   a soup of the same general style built around another main ingredient, such as corn

   The cook served a sweet corn chowder garnished with chives.

Probably borrowed from French chaudiere, 'cauldron or cooking pot,' from Late Latin caldaria and Latin caldus, 'hot'; it is therefore related to cauldron. The dish name may have arisen among Atlantic fishing communities that cooked a shared stew in such a pot. A connection with older English jowter, 'fish seller,' has also been proposed.

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