curry1
n.
(pl. curries)
a dish of meat, vegetables, etc., cooked in an Indian-style sauce of strong spices.
v.
(curries, currying, curried)
[
usu. as adj. curried]
prepare or flavour with such a sauce.
Etymology
C16: from Tamil kaṟi.
curry2
v.
(curries, currying, curried)
- chiefly N. Amer. groom (a horse) with a curry comb.
- historical treat (tanned leather) to improve its properties.
Phrase
- curry favour
ingratiate oneself with someone by obsequious behaviour.
Etymology
ME: from OFr. correier, ult. of Gmc origin.
History
The rather odd phrase curry favour is an alteration of Middle English curry favel, which comes from Old French correier ‘to groom’ and the name of a chestnut horse Favel, or Fauvel, in a 14th-century French romance. This horse was a symbol of cunning and duplicity; hence ‘to curry (or rub down) Favel’ meant to use the cunning which he personified.
