Meaning & use
bourguignon
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Cooked in the style of Burgundy, a region of France, usually with red wine and often with mushrooms, onions, and bacon.
Grammar: Almost always comes before a noun and is mainly seen in the fixed dish name 'boeuf bourguignon'.
Patterns
- boeuf bourguignon
- bourguignon sauce
- à la bourguignon
We ordered boeuf bourguignon at the little French restaurant on the corner.
The chef taught us how to make a bourguignon sauce with red wine and shallots.
For the party, she cooked a large pot of boeuf bourguignon that simmered for hours.
noununcountable
A dish of beef braised in red wine with onions, mushrooms, and bacon, from the Burgundy region of France.
Grammar: Usually written as 'boeuf bourguignon' and treated as uncountable, so you say 'some bourguignon', not 'a bourguignon'.
Patterns
- boeuf bourguignon
- a plate of bourguignon
- make bourguignon
Boeuf bourguignon is a classic French stew that takes several hours to cook.
He served the bourguignon with mashed potatoes and fresh bread.
The recipe for bourguignon calls for a full-bodied red wine.
Common combinations
- boeuf bourguignon
- Boeuf bourguignon is the most famous dish from the Burgundy region.
- à la bourguignonne
- The mushrooms were prepared à la bourguignonne, with garlic and parsley.
- bourguignon sauce
- The steak came with a rich bourguignon sauce.
- classic bourguignon
- This is a classic bourguignon recipe passed down in her family.
- slow-cooked bourguignon
- We had slow-cooked bourguignon at the winter dinner.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Burgundian
- Refers to the region of Burgundy in general, while bourguignon specifically describes the cooking style with wine.
- beef stew
- A general term for any stewed beef dish; bourguignon is a specific French version made with red wine.
Word family
- Bourgogne proper noun
- The French name for the Burgundy region, which gives its name to this cooking style.
- Burgundy proper noun
- The English name for the French region and its wine.
Commonly confused: bourguignon or Burgundy? bourguignon or bourguignonne?
bourguignon vs Burgundy
Burgundy is the English place name and the wine; bourguignon is the French adjective describing food cooked in that regional style.
bourguignon vs bourguignonne
Bourguignonne is the feminine form of the same French adjective, used with feminine nouns such as 'à la bourguignonne'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'bourguignon' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Boeuf bourguignon' is the standard dish name, so option B fits. Option An is wrong because bourguignon is a savory beef dish, not a dessert. Option C uses it as a verb, which it is not. Option D makes no sense because it is not a sound or an event.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bourguignon”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.