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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A jumble; a hodgepodge.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A hash; a medley; a hodgepodge, made up of the remnants and scraps of the larder.
  2. n. Hence Any inconsistent or ridiculous medley.
  3. n. A medley of persons.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A hash of various kinds of meats, a ragout.
  2. n. Any absurd medley.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A hash of various kinds of meats, a ragout.
  2. n. Any absurd medley; a hotchpotch.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a motley assortment of things

Etymologies

  1. French galimafrée, from Old French galimafree, sauce, ragout : probably galer, to make merry; see gallant + mafrer, to gorge oneself (from Middle Dutch moffelen, to open one's mouth wide, of imitative origin).

Examples

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Lists

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Comments

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  • nycanthro Thanks for the research Chained_Bear! Oh, and thanks for the warm welcome, too. I actually rated on the "most comments" list, at a mere 152 comments less than bilby (is he gainfully employed?) By the by, I did in fact mean Acadian. And my Kentuckian co-worker had no idea what I was talking about, even when I threw in the 'nuts' reference. Mar 1, 2009

  • reesetee In shells, dc. Mar 1, 2009

  • arcadia --bilby --Thanks for bringing my attention to this conversation, as it touches on the origin of my name.

    --CB --Funny you should point out the frequent "Arcadia vs. Acadia" mix up that I have been struggling to rise above for a lifetime of being called the French version of my Greek name.

    --Bilby, Dhæro is well! He's a true toddler now, not talking verbally much yet but he knows 30+ ASL signs! Feb 28, 2009

  • dontcry In shells or shelled? Feb 28, 2009

  • reesetee Hey! I have a gallimaufry of nuts in a bowl on my kitchen table, even as we speak! Feb 28, 2009

  • chained_bear No indeed. In fact it sounds painful. Feb 27, 2009

  • sionnach Is there a difference between a gallimaufry and a salmagundi? Granted, a salmagundi of nuts doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Feb 27, 2009

  • bilby Me! Me! A gallimaufry of nuts! Feb 27, 2009

  • chained_bear It would seem not, sadly. OED lists its earliest usages as 1591 (in the sense of a dish) and 1551 (in the sense of a heterogeneous mixture), thus:

    1591 PERCIVALL Sp. Dict., Nogada salsa, a gallimaulfry of nuts. 1607 DEKKER Westw. Hoe II. Wks. 1873 II. 294 Lattin whole-meats are nowe minc'd, and serude in for English Gallimafries.

    1551-6 ROBINSON tr. More's Utopia (Arb.) 64 Suche a tragy-call comedye or gallymalfreye. 1579 E. K. Ded. to Spenser's Sheph. Cal., So now they haue made our English tongue a gallimaufray, or hodgepodge of all other speches.

    Though it does also say, under "Etymology," "ad. F. galimafrée, of unknown origin," I think Acadia was probably not settled by French-speakers before 1551... (This assumes you meant to type "Acadia" and not "Arcadia," and I could be wrong about that.)

    Edit: I went looking out of curiosity. Wikipedia says: "The first French settlement in Arcadia was established by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts, Governor of Acadia, under the authority of King Henry IV, on Saint Croix Island in 1604."

    P.S. who, besides me, loves the phrase "a gallimaufry of nuts"? Feb 27, 2009

  • nycanthro Nice word. Never heard it before. I will attempt to use it nonchalantly with a Kentucky-born coworker and let you know how it turns out (cus direct askin ain't no fun no how, shoot). Merriam-Webster says it comes from the French 'galimafree' meaning a type of stew; hence the hodgepodgey notion. Could it be Arcadian in origin? Feb 27, 2009

  • bilby Until the bar closes? Nov 21, 2007

  • sitforthepillow I used this for a title of a Bluegrass music mix CD. The root "to gorge onself" describes the spirit of a genuine Bluegrass jam. The players play until the people are satisfied. Jan 3, 2007

‘gallimaufry’ has been looked up 2733 times, loved by 26 people, added to 109 lists, commented on 12 times, and has a Scrabble score of 20.