bain-marie

[ beyn-muh-ree; French ban-ma-ree ]

noun,plural bains-ma·rie [beyn-muh-ree; French ban-ma-ree]. /ˈbeɪn məˈri; French bɛ̃ maˈri/.
  1. (in cooking) a receptacle containing hot or boiling water into which other containers are placed to warm or cook the food in them.

  2. British. a double boiler.

Origin of bain-marie

1
1815–25; <French, Middle French, translation of Medieval Latin balneum Mariae literally, bath of Mary, reputed to be a Jewish alchemist who devised such a heating technique, and sometimes identified with Moses' sister Miriam

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How to use bain-marie in a sentence

  • Above the sink, hot plate, and bain marie, is an iron rack nine feet long with hooks to hang huge saut-pans.

British Dictionary definitions for bain-marie

bain-marie

/ French (bɛ̃mari) /


nounplural bains-marie (bɛ̃mari)
  1. a vessel for holding hot water, in which sauces and other dishes are gently cooked or kept warm

Origin of bain-marie

1
C19: from French, from Medieval Latin balneum Mariae, literally: bath of Mary, inaccurate translation of Medieval Greek kaminos Marios, literally: furnace of Miriam, alleged author of a treatise on alchemy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012