Etymology

dessert

D2E1S1S1E1R1T1

Today it means: The last course of a meal, consisting of fruit, sweet confections etc. Full definition →

Middle French dessert ← Old French servir ← Latin serviō
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
  3. Proto-Indo-European*d(w)is-
  4. Proto-Italic*dis-
  5. Latindis-
  6. Old Frenchdes-
  7. Middle Frenchdes-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*ser-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*serwos
  10. Proto-Indo-European*serweyéti
  11. Proto-Italic*serwijeti
  12. Proto-Italic*serwijit
  13. Proto-Italic*serwiō
  14. Latinserviō
  15. Old Frenchservir
  16. Middle Frenchservir
  17. Middle Frenchdesservir
  18. Middle Frenchdessert
  19. English todaydessert

Borrowed from Middle French dessert, from desservir (“disserve”), from dés- (“dis-”) and servir (“serve”), thus literally meaning “removal of what has been served”. Note: It was erroneously suggested (e.g. in "Glucose syrups: Technology and Applications" (Peter Hull, 2010)) that the word is derived from the name of Benjamin Delessert, the inventor of beet sugar. However, the term predates him by at least a century.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.