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Lagniappe - 4 dictionary results

la⋅gniappe

  [lan-yap, lan-yap]
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–noun
1. Chiefly Southern Louisiana and Southeast Texas. a small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or for good measure; bonus.
2. a gratuity or tip.
3. an unexpected or indirect benefit.
Also, la⋅gnappe.

Origin:
1840–50, Americanism; < LaF < AmerSp la ñapa the addition, equiv. to la fem. definite article + ñapa, var. of yapa < Quechua: that which is added
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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la·gniappe   (lān'yəp, lān-yāp')   
n.   Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
  1. A small gift presented by a storeowner to a customer with the customer's purchase.
  2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot2. See Regional Note at beignet.

[Louisiana French, from American Spanish la ñapa, the gift : la, the (from Latin illa, feminine of ille, that, the; see al-1 in Indo-European roots) + ñapa (variant of yapa, gift, from Quechua, from yapay, to give more).]
Lagniappe derives from New World Spanish la ñapa, "the gift," and ultimately from Quechua yapay, "to give more." The word came into the rich Creole dialect mixture of New Orleans and there acquired a French spelling. It is still used in the Gulf states, especially southern Louisiana, to denote a little bonus that a friendly shopkeeper might add to a purchase. By extension, it may mean "an extra or unexpected gift or benefit."
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Lagniappe

La*gniappe\, Lagnappe \La*gnappe"\, n. [Etym. uncertain.] In Louisiana, a trifling present given to customers by tradesmen; a gratuity.

Lagniappe . . .is something thrown in, gratis, for good measure. --Mark Twain.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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lagniappe 
"dividend, something extra," 1849, from New Orleans creole, of unknown origin though much speculated. Originally a bit of something given by New Orleans shopkeepers to customers. Said to be from Amer.Sp. la ñapa "the gift." Klein says this is in turn from Quechua yapa "something added, gift."
"We picked up one excellent word -- a word worth travelling to New Orleans to get; a nice, limber, expressive, handy word -- 'lagniappe.' They pronounce it lanny-yap. It is Spanish -- so they said." [Mark Twain, "Life on the Mississippi"]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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