parboil

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb cook (vegetables) briefly

Etymology

From Middle English parboyle, from Old French parbouillir (“to boil thoroughly”), from Medieval Latin perbulliō, from Latin per (“thoroughly”) + bulliō (“to boil”). Sense “to boil partially” (c.1440), rather than original “to boil thoroughly” is by corruption: associating the prefix with part (from Latin pars (“part”)) rather than per.

In classic literature

Synonyms

blanch

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