potpourri - Dictionary definition and pronunciation - Yahoo! Education

Definition of potpourri


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pot·pour·ri  audio  (pp-r) KEY 

NOUN:
pl. pot·pour·ris
  1. A combination of incongruous things: "In the minds of many, the real and imagined causes for Russia's defeats quickly mingled into a potpourri of terrible fears" (W. Bruce Lincoln).
  2. A miscellaneous anthology or collection: a potpourri of short stories and humorous verse.
  3. A mixture of dried flower petals and spices used to scent the air.

ETYMOLOGY:
French pot pourri (translation of Spanish olla podrida) : pot, pot ; see potiche + pourri, past participle of pourrir, to rot (from Old French purir, from Vulgar Latin *putrre, from Latin putrscere; see putrid)


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