terrine common?

[TRex]

Ngram Viewer for tureen and terrine broken down

From what I could find tureen is the Anglicised version of terrine

For GB English and US English, tureen is fairly equal during the entire period.

For GB English and US English, terrine is negligible until mid-1970s when it began climbing rapidly for both (I'm sure there is a reason for that! — some cookbooks on French cooking which wasn't satisfied with the existing, Anglicised version of the word?). But starting in the late 1990s, terrine appears continue its rise in frequency for GB English but NOT for US English where its frequency flattened. Then, about 2010, terrine's appearance in GB English skyrocketed whilst dropping in US English.

By 2019, terrine is used more than four times as frequently in GB English (0.0000332931%) as US English (0.0000082637%).

The OED doesn't distinguish types of English for its typical frequency calculations, but shows tureen 'typically occurs about 0.2 times per million words in modern written English, whereas terrine 'typically occurs about 0.1 times per million words in modern written English'. IMNSHO, a word used only half as frequently as tureen probably isn´t 'common'.

[Roddles]

I only know tureen as a large cooking pot for something like soup. I've never heard or seen it used as a variant of terrine.

[Morbius]

I know the word as a kind of meatloaf in French cuisine.  I'd have thought this definition was pretty common. 

[TRex]

https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-terrine-4156845

[Jacki]

Both tureen and terrine are known to me - I do love cooking and eating however. Still, I would have thought they’d be words familiar to enough people to warrant their current status.

[guyd]

Ex chef here:

Terrine - a French type of meatloaf often wrapped in bacon and baked in a bain-marie, name derived from the oblong earthenware baking dish.

Tureen - nothing to do with terrine, it is a round/ish piece of tableware usually used to serve soup or stews.

[matt]

I know both words, they're not interchangeable.

I would have expected both of them to be well known.

[Maudland]

I know both words, as different things. The rise of ‘terrine’ in the UK probably reflects its popularity as a dish - it’s an impressive party / restaurant dish. Even I’ve made a (veggie) terrine - pretty faffy but delicious. I don’t think I’ve ever used a tureen though! but I’d still peg it as a common word. They’re almost opposite in a way - one for soups and one for compressed/set layers that can be sliced… (peckish now …)

[TRex]

Ex chef here:

Terrine - a French type of meatloaf often wrapped in bacon and baked in a bain-marie, name derived from the oblong earthenware baking dish.

Tureen - nothing to do with terrine, it is a round/ish piece of tableware usually used to serve soup or stews.

Screenshot from OED regarding tureen. It most definitely is related to terrine.

[Maudland]

Ex chef here:

Terrine - a French type of meatloaf often wrapped in bacon and baked in a bain-marie, name derived from the oblong earthenware baking dish.

Tureen - nothing to do with terrine, it is a round/ish piece of tableware usually used to serve soup or stews.

Screenshot from OED regarding tureen. It most definitely is related to terrine.

Maybe originally, in their derivation, but not now.

[TRex]

Maybe originally, in their derivation, but not now.

Sorry, but etymology is etymology. And OED clearly shows the connection. Moreover, I don't see a difference between 'an earthenware of similar heatproof vessel' and a tureen.

One can refuse to acknowledge the facts, but it doesn't change the facts.

[Maudland]

Sure. But now they are used as entirely different words with distinct meanings. A tureen is typically round or oval, with a lid, used to serve soup. Terrine is more often used to describe the food rather than the thing it’s cooked/prepared in (I used a loaf tin when I made one), especially by non-chefs. But it’s typically oblong - so you see the layers when you serve in slices. Nobody - except Mr. Mangetout - would eat a tureen.

Saying they’re the same words now is like saying wife and woman are still equivalent.

[Roddles]

I gather that the point of the original query was whether terrine should be common. The fact that it once had another meaning is interesting, but irrelevant. For me, the word, and the food, are both very common.

[Maudland]

Yes, the original question was about whether terrine should be common, but with its definition as an alternative spelling to tureen, and its usage compared to tureen. So, the discussion has been to establish that it is not an equivalent word, and I think people who’ve commented understand it in the same way. In that case, using tureen as a yardstick isn’t relevant. And it seems to be pretty well known elsewhere in the world -? (I can see Australian and UK comments, but I don’t know where Matt and guyd hail from.) Are there other US players who can add their 2p? Wouldn’t you find a terrine on the menu in the US? I think Alan likes common words to be globally common.

[rogue_mother]

I have certainly seen terrine as a menu item in restaurants where I've eaten and have seen recipes for them in newspapers and magazines.