gravy

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A thick, savory sauce made from the juices of cooked meat.

   A roast dinner isn't complete without gravy.

2. 2
   noun

   Extra money or benefit gained easily, beyond what is needed (informal).

   We covered our costs with the first sales; the rest is gravy.

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Simplified etymology

Gravy probably arose when Old French grané was misread as gravé in a medieval manuscript, where similar letter forms made the error plausible. Grané likely came from grain, “spice,” ultimately from Latin granum, “grain.” In medieval cookbooks gravy meant a spicy sauce; the familiar sense “sauce made from meat juices” appeared only in the late 16th century.

From Middle English gravey, greavie, gravy; probably from greaves, graves (“the sediment of melted tallow”), or from Old French grave, a claimed misspelling of grané (“stew, spice”), from grain (“spice”). Sense of "pasta sauce" apparently seems to be from Italian dialect, especially Calabrian, differentiating tomato puree (salsa (“sauce”)) from cooked tomato sauce (sugo).

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary