baguette

IPA/bæˈɡet/
KK[bˌæɡˈɛt]IPA/bæˈɡet/

baguette — noun

  • baguettesingular
  • baguettesplural

1. a narrow French bread loaf with a crisp outside and a soft center

1.nounB2
Definition

a narrow French bread loaf with a crisp outside and a soft center

Example

Roya bought a warm baguette for the cheese picnic by the river.

buy a warm baguette — common bakery purchase

Mayumi tore the baguette into pieces and passed them around the table.

Common collocations
  • fresh baguette
  • crusty baguette
  • slice a baguette
  • tear off a piece of baguette
Synonyms
  • French stick

    another common name for this loaf, especially in British usage

  • loaf

    much broader; it does not specify the long narrow French shape

  • bread roll

    smaller and usually rounder, not a long crusty loaf

Usage Note

Usually names the plain loaf itself, not the ingredients inside it. Distinguish from sense 2, which refers to a filled baguette eaten as a sandwich.

Common Mistakes

I bought a baguette sandwich, without anything inside.
I bought a baguette.
sense 1 names the bread itself, not a filled sandwich.
The chef baked three baguette rolls.
The chef baked three baguettes.
baguette already names the whole loaf, so roll is unnecessary.

2. a sandwich made by splitting a piece of baguette and putting food inside it

2.nounB2
Definition

a sandwich made by splitting a piece of baguette and putting food inside it

Example

Lakshmi grabbed a chicken baguette before getting on the afternoon train.

filling + baguette — menu style naming pattern

Yan ordered a tuna baguette and a coffee from the station cafe.

Common collocations
  • chicken baguette
  • tuna baguette
  • ham baguette
  • salad baguette
Synonyms
  • sandwich

    the general category; much less specific about the bread shape

  • sub

    similar long filled sandwich, especially in American English, but usually on softer bread

  • filled roll

    broader and can be made with many kinds of smaller bread

Usage Note

Common on cafe and takeaway menus, especially when the filling is named before the word: tuna baguette, cheese baguette. Distinguish from sense 1, which names the bread before anything is added.

Common Mistakes

I ordered a baguette and asked them to add ham.
I ordered a ham baguette.
in this sense, baguette can mean the prepared sandwich with its filling named.
The cafe sold plain baguettes in sense 2.
The cafe sold plain baguettes in sense 1.
sense 2 needs a filling inside the bread.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Baguette refers to a very specific kind of bread: long, narrow, and usually crusty outside with a softer middle. Loaf is the broad everyday word for any shaped piece of baked bread, so every baguette is a loaf, but not every loaf is a baguette. French stick is almost the same meaning as baguette and is often used in British shops or recipes. Roll usually suggests a much smaller single-serving piece of bread, often round or oval, so it does not give the same long shape. Ciabatta is also a crusty bread, but it is flatter, wider, and associated with a different Italian style. If you want the exact French-style shape, baguette is the clearest word.

loaf ↗French stickroll ↗ciabatta ↗

Etymology

FrenchEnglish

Baguette came into English from French baguette, a word for a slender stick or rod. English speakers borrowed it because the loaf has that long, narrow shape. The bread meaning came first, and later the same word was also used for a sandwich made in that kind of loaf.