dessert

D2E1S1S1E1R1T1
UK/dɪˈzɜːt/US/dɪˈzɝt/

noun

The last course of a meal, consisting of fruit, sweet confections etc.

“Can I see the dessert menu, please?”

Similar
afterspuddingsweetentremets
OriginMiddle French dessert ← Old French servir ← Latin serviō →
CommonScrabble 8
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Meanings

noundessert (countable and uncountable, plural desserts)

plural desserts · alternative obsolete desert

  1. countableuncountableThe last course of a meal, consisting of fruit, sweet confections etc.

    Can I see the dessert menu, please?

    1 more example

    I ordered hummus for a starter, a steak as the main course, and chocolate cake for dessert.

    Synonyms: afters, pudding, sweet, entremets

  2. countableuncountableA sweet dish or confection served as the last course of a meal.

    Trifle is a favourite dessert of the English, but rivalled by pavlova in Australia and New Zealand.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe last course of a meal, consisting of fruit, sweet confections etc.

Similar
afterspuddingsweetentremets

More synonyms by meaning

nouna dish served as the last course of a meal

Similar
sweetafters
Broader
course
Also see
afterclapaftercourseafterspuddingsweet

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  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. Englishdessert

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.

More words from Middle French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans nagereg
  • nageregsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Ancient Greek τράγημα
  • τράγημα (trágēma)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Arabic حَلْوَى, حَلْوَيَات
  • حَلْوَى (ḥalwā)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • حَلْوَيَات (ḥalwayāt)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • تَحْلِيَة (taḥliya)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Bengali ডেজার্ট
  • ডেজার্ট (ḍejarṭo)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Bulgarian десе́рт
  • десе́рт (desért)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Catalan llevants, postres
  • llevantssweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • postressweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • darreriessweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Chinese Mandarin 點心 /点心, 餐後甜點 /餐后甜点
  • 點心 /点心 (diǎnxīn)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • 餐後甜點 /餐后甜点 (cānhòu tiándiǎn)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • 甜食 (tiánshí)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • 甜點 /甜点 (tiándiǎn)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • 西點 /西点 (xīdiǎn)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Czech zákusek, dezert
  • zákuseksweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • dezertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Danish efterret, dessert
  • efterretsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • dessertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Dutch dessert, nagerecht
  • dessertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • nagerechtsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • toetjesweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Esperanto postmanĝaĵo, deserto
  • postmanĝaĵosweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • desertosweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Estonian magustoit, dessert
  • magustoitsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • dessertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Finnish jälkiruoka
  • jälkiruokasweet confection served as the last course of a meal
French dessert
  • dessertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
German Nachtisch, Nachspeise
  • Nachtischsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • Nachspeisesweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • Dessertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Greek γλυκό, επιδόρπιο
  • γλυκό (glykó)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • επιδόρπιο (epidórpio)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Hawaiian monamona
  • monamonasweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Hebrew קינוח \ קִנּוּחַ
  • קינוח \ קִנּוּחַ (kinuakh)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Hindi मिठाई, हलवा
  • मिठाई (miṭhāī)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • हलवा (halvā)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • डेज़र्ट (ḍezarṭ)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Hungarian desszert
  • desszertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Icelandic eftirréttur
  • eftirréttursweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Indonesian disert, pencuci mulut
  • disertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • pencuci mulutsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Irish milseog
  • milseogsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Italian dolce, dessert
  • dolcesweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • dessertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Japanese デザート, スイーツ
  • デザート (dezāto)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • スイーツ (suītsu)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Korean 후식, 디저트
  • 후식 (husik)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • 디저트 (dijeoteu)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Latin bellaria, secunda mensa
  • bellariasweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • secunda mensasweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Latvian deserts, saldais ēdiens
  • desertssweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • saldais ēdienssweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Lithuanian desertas
  • desertassweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Malay pencuci mulut
  • pencuci mulutsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Māori purini, towhiro
  • purinisweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • towhirosweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Norwegian etterrett, dessert
  • etterrettsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • dessertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Persian دسر
  • دسر (deser)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Polish deser
  • desersweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Portuguese sobremesa
  • sobremesasweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Romanian desert
  • desertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Russian десе́рт, сла́дкое
  • десе́рт (desért)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • сла́дкое (sládkoje)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Scottish Gaelic mìlsean, mìlse
  • mìlseansweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • mìlsesweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Slovak dezert
  • dezertsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Spanish dulce, postre
  • dulcesweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • postresweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Swedish efterrätt
  • efterrättsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Tagalog panghimagas
  • panghimagassweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Thai อาหารหวาน, ขนม
  • อาหารหวาน (aa-hǎan-wǎan)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • ขนม (kà-nǒm)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • ของหวาน (kɔ̌ɔng-wǎan)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Turkish tatlı
  • tatlısweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Ukrainian десе́рт, соло́дке
  • десе́рт (desért)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • соло́дке (solódke)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Urdu میٹھائی
  • میٹھائی (miṭhāī)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Vietnamese tráng miệng
  • tráng miệngsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Welsh melysfwyd, pwdin
  • melysfwydsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • pwdinsweet confection served as the last course of a meal
Yiddish פֿאַרבײַסן, דעסערט
  • פֿאַרבײַסן (farbaysn)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal
  • דעסערט (desert)sweet confection served as the last course of a meal

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with dessert

shirtexpertalertconcertinsertconvertdeserthurtdirtadvertKurtassertBertBurtflirtrevertcurtexertvertdivertbirtinertwortovert
All rhymes →

Anagrams

tressed
Cite this entry
APA

dessert. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dessert

MLA

“dessert.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dessert. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dessert,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dessert.

Source: dessert on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.