Wiktionary

congee

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From late Middle English congie, from Old French congié, congiet (modern French congé), from Latin commeātus (“passage, permission to leave”), from commeō (“to go and come”), from con- + meō (“to go, to pass”). Figurative senses generally borrowed from developments in French congé.

Alternative forms

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  • conge [16th–17th c.]
  • congé [from 18th c.]

Noun

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congee (countable and uncountable, plural congees)

  1. Leave, formal permission for some action, (originally and particularly):
    1. (obsolete) Formal permission to leave; a passport.
  2. (obsolete) Formal dismissal; (figurative) any dismissal; (originally & particularly humorously ironic) abrupt dismissal without ceremony.
  3. (obsolete) Formal leavetaking; (figurative) any farewell.
  4. (obsolete, Scotland) A fee paid to make another go away, (particularly) alms to a persistent beggar.
  5. (archaic) A bow, curtsey, or other gesture (originally) made at departure but (later) including at greeting or in obeissance or respect.
    • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
      As salutations, reverences, or conges, by which some doe often purchase the honour, (but wrongfully) to be humble, lowly, and courteous […].
    • 1682, John Bunyan, The Holy War:
      … I therefore, at this time, shall only add this advice to you, under and by the leave of my lord;’ (and with that he made Diabolus a very low congee;) …
    • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter 96, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume IV, London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:
      So saying, he bowed with a thousand apish congês, and presented his paper to Peregrine […] .
    • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:
      “My daughter Rebecca, so please your Grace,” answered Isaac, with a low congee, nothing embarrassed by the Prince’s salutation, in which, however, there was at least as much mockery as courtesy.
    • 1880, Richard Francis Burton, Os Lusíadas, volume I, page 23:
      His speech thus spake the Moor, and took his leave,
      he and his meiny where the bátels lay:
      formal farewells to chief and crews he gave,
      exchanging congees with due courtesy.
Derived terms
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Verb

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congee (third-person singular simple present congees, present participle congeeing, simple past and past participle congeed)

  1. (archaic) To give congee, (particularly)
    1. (obsolete, transitive) To give formal permission to leave; to dismiss.
    2. (obsolete, transitive) To give formal permission to do something; to license.
  2. (archaic) To take congee: to leave ceremoniously.
  3. (archaic) To make a congee: to bow, curtsey, etc., (particularly dialectal) while leaving; (figuratively) to make obeissance, show respect, or defer to someone or something.

Etymology 2

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

From Tamil கஞ்சி (kañci)[1] or another Dravidian language such as Malayalam കഞ്ഞി (kaññi) (ultimately from Proto-Dravidian *kañci), possibly via Portuguese canje.[2]

Alternative forms

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Noun

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congee (usually uncountable, plural congees)

  1. (Asian cooking) A type of thick rice porridge or soup, sometimes prepared with vegetables and/or meat.
    • 2022, Ling Ma, “Peking Duck”, in Bliss Montage, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN:
      In a past life in Fuzhou, it represented some reality other than the one of daily congee and pickled turnips, cabbage and boiled rip soup.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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See also

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Yule, Henry, Sir (1903), Hobson-Jobson: A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive.‎[1]: “It is from the Tamil kanjī, 'boilings.'”
  2. ^ “conjee”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

References

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  • "congee | congé, n.²" & "v." in the Oxford English Dictionary, 1891.

Anagrams

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