Meanings
plural piccalillis · alternative picalilli
- UKA yellow pickle relish made from cauliflower, vegetable marrow, and other vegetables, pickled with vinegar, salt, sugar, and spiced with mustard, turmeric, and other spices.
There are, however, exceptions. Piccalilli – aka “mustard with other stuff”, aka “that noble Anglo-Indian spiritual creation” – is great with ham, he conceeds^([sic]).
2020 April 9, Sam Jones, “Spanish writer spills beans on UK's saucy secrets”, in The Guardian, →ISSNSynonyms: chowchow, India relish
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA yellow pickle relish made from cauliflower, vegetable marrow, and other vegetables, pickled with vinegar, salt, sugar, and spiced with mustard, turmeric, and other spices.
nounA pickle, typically on a base of chopped green (unripe) tomatoes, but sometimes finely-chopped pickles, and possibly including other vegetables.
Origin
- Middle Dutchpekel“brine”
- Middle Englishpekille“spicy sauce served with meat or fish”
- Englishpiccalilli
Unknown. First use appears c. 1758. Presumably a variant of pickle, which itself is from Middle English pekille (“spicy sauce served with meat or fish”) or pikel, from Middle Dutch pekel (“brine”); perhaps influenced by dialectal variants. Alternatively, it may be related to paco lilla (“ginger-spiced pickle”), from the 18th century British cookbook The Art of Cookery (1747–1843; e.g., 1805 edition) by Hannah Glasse (1708–1770), also referred to as Indian pickles, which suggests an Indo-Aryan source; compare mulligatawny, of Tamil origin, which also features turmeric prominently, and curry, of Tamil or Middle English origin (or a blend). Not etymologically related to Piccadilly.
More words from Middle English, Middle Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with piccalilli
Cite this entry
piccalilli. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piccalilli
“piccalilli.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piccalilli. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “piccalilli,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/piccalilli.
Source: piccalilli on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.