aspic

Meanings

Noun

• A meat or fish jelly
• A dish in which ingredients are set into a gelatine, jelly-like substance made from a meat stock or consommé.
• An asp, a small venomous snake of Egypt.
• A piece of ordnance carrying a 12-pound shot.

Adjective

• Aspish; relating to an asp, a small venomous snake of Egypt.

Origin

• Borrowed from French aspic, from Latin aspis, and possibly influenced by French basilic ("basilisk"). The culinary sense may come from association with the snake due to the traditional colours and cold temperature of aspic, in addition to the fact that the gelatine was often moulded in a shape similar to a coiled snake.