First recorded in 1375–1425.
Comes from Latin, from the past participle of inveterāre, “to grow old, allow to grow old, preserve.\"
Inveterāre contains veter-, the stem of vetus, meaning “old,\" which is also the stem of the word veteran.
Sign up for more Word of the Day!

\r\nEXAMPLES OF INVETERATE\r\n

The inveterate procrastinator always left things until the last minute.
As an inveterate optimist, she always saw the bright side of every situation.

\r\nIt's National Poetry Month, and we’ve created a challenge that really is for everyone. Submit now!","audio":"https://static.sfdict.com/audio/I02/I0281600.mp3","definitions":[{"partofspeech":"adjective","data":"settled or confirmed in a habit, practice, feeling, or the like."}],"examples":[],"imageUrl":"https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/inveterate_IG.png","accentColor":"#0063D7"}},"status":"succeeded"}},"meta":{"requestId":"VHAs78n88eJoo9YgHiC0X","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchWordsNearby/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"before":[{"slug":"cumana","entry":"Cumaná"},{"slug":"cumber","entry":"cumber"},{"slug":"cumberland","entry":"Cumberland"},{"slug":"cumberland-gap","entry":"Cumberland Gap"},{"slug":"cumberland-mountains","entry":"Cumberland Mountains"}],"after":[{"slug":"cumbernauld","entry":"Cumbernauld"},{"slug":"cumbersome","entry":"cumbersome"},{"slug":"cumbia","entry":"cumbia"},{"slug":"cumbrance","entry":"cumbrance"},{"slug":"cumbria","entry":"Cumbria"}]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"cumberland-sauce"},"requestId":"wxlBpOs95AsSE7t4Vcxot","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"luna/fetchExampleSentences/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"tdb":[],"gbg":[]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"cumberland-sauce"},"requestId":"gBhTU5chQD8FbJ9ChT1tq","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchDictionaryResults/fulfilled","payload":{"slugs":[{"entries":[{"__typename":"CollinsEntry","headword":{"displayForm":"Cumberland sauce","slug":"cumberland-sauce"},"homonym":null,"note":null,"origin":null,"partOfSpeechGroups":[{"definitions":[{"crossReferencesConnection":{"edges":[]},"definitionSetChunks":"[{\"text\": \"\", \"type\": \"text\"}, {\"type\": \"defgrp\", \"children\": [{\"text\": \"a cold sauce made from orange and lemon juice, port, and redcurrant jelly, served with ham, game, or other meat\", \"type\": \"text\"}]}]","examples":[],"idiom":null,"ordinal":1,"sense":null,"subdefinitions":[]}],"ordinal":1,"partOfSpeech":"noun"}],"pronunciations":[],"subEntry":[]}],"url":"cumberland-sauce"}]},"meta":{"arg":{"slug":"cumberland-sauce"},"requestId":"cKvjVUCXkcyfakcwmx_yl","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchResultsData/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"url":"cumberland-sauce","displayForm":"Cumberland sauce","canonicalSlug":"cumberland-sauce","content":[{"source":"collins","entries":[{"id":"ac399a5d8.6bfb.1014.b87b.c2803370a23a.1","type":"normal","entry":"Cumberland sauce","entrySyllabified":null,"entryVariants":"","homograph":null,"pronunciation":{"audio":null,"spell":null,"ipa":""},"predefinitionContent":"","posBlocks":[{"pos":"noun","posSupplementaryInfo":"","definitions":[{"order":1,"type":"simple","predefinitionContent":"British","definition":"a cold sauce made from orange and lemon juice, port, and redcurrant jelly, served with ham, game, or other meat","postdefinitionContent":""}]}],"origin":"","supplementaryNotes":[],"variantForms":[],"referenceData":[],"relatedForms":[],"derivedForms":[]}]}],"nearbyWordOrdinal":38630,"index-rank-01":["cumberland sauce"],"index-rank-02":[],"index-rank-03":[],"index-rank-04":[],"index-rank-05":[],"index-rank-06":[],"index-rank-07":[],"index-rank-08":[],"index-rank-09":[],"index-rank-10":[],"index-rank-11":[],"index-rank-12":[],"index-rank-13":[],"index-rank-14":[],"index-rank-15":[],"tunaSlug":null,"isFeaturedMetaSlug":false}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"cumberland-sauce"},"requestId":"X3e8GFwvCNNw441Hmtalq","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchSpellSuggestions/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"luna":["Cumberland","timberland","Cumbernauld","clubland","cummerbund","gum band","cumber"],"tuna":["timberland","cummerbund","gum band","cumber"],"lunaWithSlug":[{"displayForm":"Cumberland","slug":"cumberland"},{"displayForm":"timberland","slug":"timberland"},{"displayForm":"Cumbernauld","slug":"cumbernauld"},{"displayForm":"clubland","slug":"clubland"},{"displayForm":"cummerbund","slug":"cummerbund"},{"displayForm":"gum band","slug":"gum-band"},{"displayForm":"cumber","slug":"cumber"}],"tunaWithSlug":[{"displayForm":"timberland","slug":"timberland"},{"displayForm":"cummerbund","slug":"cummerbund"},{"displayForm":"gum band","slug":"gum%20band"},{"displayForm":"cumber","slug":"cumber"}]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"cumberland-sauce"},"requestId":"5MaXnDrf_ncQlsKYgFsDg","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}}]},"actionData":null,"errors":null}

Cumberland sauce

noun

Word of the Day