Welsh rarebit

English

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Welsh rarebit

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 like rabbit, or like rare-bit.

Noun

Welsh rarebit (countable and uncountable, plural Welsh rarebits)

A dish of cheese melted with a little ale and served on toast.
- 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 25, in Crime out of Mind‎^[1]:
  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

buck rarebit

Translations

French: croque galois

References

^ "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
^ "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

[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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