Meaning & use
minestrone
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Meanings
noununcountable
A thick Italian vegetable soup that usually contains beans, pasta or rice, and sometimes tomatoes.
Grammar: Used without an article for the dish: We had minestrone for lunch.
Patterns
- a bowl of minestrone
- minestrone with something
We started with a bowl of hot minestrone and fresh bread.
My aunt makes minestrone with whatever vegetables she has left.
The cafe serves minestrone every Wednesday.
nouncountableinformal
A portion of this soup ordered or served as a dish.
Grammar: Countable when ordering: Two minestrones, please.
Patterns
- order a minestrone
I'll have a minestrone and a salad, please.
Two minestrones arrived at the table steaming hot.
She asked the waiter for a minestrone without bacon.
Word forms
| plural | minestrones |
|---|
Common combinations
- a bowl of minestrone
- A bowl of minestrone warmed us up after the walk.
- vegetable minestrone
- The vegetable minestrone was thick and full of beans.
- homemade minestrone
- Her homemade minestrone tastes better the next day.
- minestrone soup
- Minestrone soup is a good way to use leftover vegetables.
- serve minestrone
- The restaurant serves minestrone with grated cheese on top.
Synonyms and how they differ
- vegetable soup
- Vegetable soup is a general term, while minestrone points to the Italian version with pasta or beans.
- broth
- Broth is a thinner liquid with fewer solids, whereas minestrone is thick and filling.
- stew
- A stew is thicker still and often contains meat, while minestrone is usually a vegetable soup.
Word family
Commonly confused: minestrone or mince?
minestrone vs mince
Mince is chopped meat in British English, and has nothing to do with this vegetable soup, despite the similar start.
Practice
Which dish is traditionally made with beans, pasta and vegetables?
Choose one answer.
Minestrone is a thick Italian vegetable soup with beans and pasta. Gazpacho is cold and tomato-based, consomme is a clear broth, and bisque is a creamy shellfish soup.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “minestrone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.