Meanings
plural mulligatawnies
- countableuncountableAn Indian soup having a meat base and curry seasoning.
Eldridge closed the despatch-case with a snap and, rising briskly, walked down the corridor to his solitary table in the dining-car. Mulligatawny soup, poached turbot, roast leg of lamb—the usual railway dinner.
1931, Francis Beeding, “1/1”, in Death Walks in Eastrepps1 more example
At the top was a cod's shoulders and head, whose intellectual faculties were rather over much developed; and at the bottom was soup called mulligatawny—some indefinite mixture of curry-powder and ducks' feet, the first spoonful of which called from its master a look of thunder and lightning up the table.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 127
Origin
- Tamilமிளகுத்தண்ணீர்
- Englishmulligatawny
Borrowed from Tamil மிளகுத்தண்ணீர் (miḷakuttaṇṇīr, literally “pepper water”).
More words from Tamil
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 咖喱肉湯 /咖喱肉汤
- 咖喱肉湯 /咖喱肉汤 (gālí ròutāng)Indian soup
Finnish mulligatawny-keitto
- mulligatawny-keittoIndian soup
Tamil மிளகுத்தண்ணீர்
- மிளகுத்தண்ணீர் (miḷakuttaṇṇīr)Indian soup
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with mulligatawny
All rhymes →Cite this entry
mulligatawny. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mulligatawny
“mulligatawny.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mulligatawny. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mulligatawny,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mulligatawny.
Source: mulligatawny on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.