Meanings
plural potpourris · alternative pot pourri · alternative pot-pourri
- countableuncountableentertainmentA medley of songs or music.
- countablefigurativelyuncountableA collection of various things; an assortment, mixed bag or motley.
A convention of sorts, the evening was an exciting potpourri of education, entertainment and political consciousness.
1977 December 24, Richard Burns, “It Was a 'Big Splash' at The Aquarium”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 25, page 9 - countableuncountableAn anthology of miscellaneous prose.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna collection containing a variety of sorts of things
nouna musical composition consisting of a series of songs or other musical pieces from various sources
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Spanisholla podrida“stew”
- Frenchpot-pourri“stew, potpourri”
- Englishpotpourri
From French pot-pourri (“stew, potpourri”), a calque of Spanish olla podrida (“stew”, literally “rotten pot”). Doublet of olla podrida.
More words from French, Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan popurri
- popurricollection of various things
Chinese Mandarin 大雜燴 /大杂烩
- 大雜燴 /大杂烩 (dàzáhuì)collection of various things
Czech všehochuť
- všehochuťcollection of various things
Danish potpourri, potpourri
- potpourria mixture of dried fragrant plant material used to scent a room
- potpourria medley of songs or music
Dutch potpourri, potpourri
- potpourria mixture of dried fragrant plant material used to scent a room
- potpourria medley of songs or music
Finnish potpuri, lajitelma
- potpuria medley of songs or music
- lajitelmacollection of various things
- sekoituscollection of various things
French pot-pourri, pot-pourri
- pot-pourria mixture of dried fragrant plant material used to scent a room
- pot-pourria medley of songs or music
- pot-pourricollection of various things
- pot-pourrianthology of miscellaneous prose
German Potpourri, Potpourri
- Potpourria mixture of dried fragrant plant material used to scent a room
- Potpourria medley of songs or music
- Medleya medley of songs or music
- Potpourricollection of various things
Hebrew מַחְרוֹזֶת
- מַחְרוֹזֶת (maḥrozet)a medley of songs or music
Italian potpourri, varietà
- potpourria mixture of dried fragrant plant material used to scent a room
- varietàa medley of songs or music
- mistoa medley of songs or music
- miscuglioa medley of songs or music
- miscugliocollection of various things
- mistocollection of various things
- potpourricollection of various things
- varietàcollection of various things
- varietàanthology of miscellaneous prose
Portuguese potpourri, pot-pourri
- potpourria medley of songs or music
- pot-pourria medley of songs or music
- pot-pourricollection of various things
Russian попурри́, смесь
- попурри́ (popurrí)a medley of songs or music
- смесь (smesʹ)collection of various things
Scottish Gaelic sop às gach seid
- sop às gach seidcollection of various things
Swedish potpurri, potpurri
- potpurria mixture of dried fragrant plant material used to scent a room
- potpurria medley of songs or music
- potpurricollection of various things
Turkish potpuri
- potpuria medley of songs or music
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
potpourri. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potpourri
“potpourri.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potpourri. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “potpourri,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potpourri.
Source: potpourri on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.