Marmite
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A rounded cooking pot of various designs, commonly pot-bellied, with or without tripod, handles, lid etc; originally earthenware but currently more commonly of cast iron or other metals.
"1824 Thomas Gill. The Technical Repository p. 180: XXXV: On the French Marmite, or Pot-au-Feu: and on preparing Bouillon with it My little boy having been ill of a fever for forty days, I have learned from his attendant how to make the celebrated soup (bouillon) of Paris: and finding it to be superior to any that I ever before tasted, I take the liberty to send you the directions necessary to enable any one to prepare this cheap and desirable food. Earthen-pots with covers, made to hold from one to seven pounds of meat, are found in every family. The marmite bought for me was for one-and-a-half pound only: this quantity of lean meat (bœufmaigre), was always part of the leg or shoulder: it was put into the marmite, which was then filled up with cold water, about five pints, and placed on the hearth, close to the wood-fire; and when it began to simmer or boil gently, it threw up a scum, which was carefully taken off from time to time with a spoon, for the space of threequarters of an hour, which perfectly cleansed the meat and water from every impurity."
- 2 Something which people either love or hate. UK, countable, informal, uncountable
"A pink gin is prepared by swirling a few drops of bitters round the glass and throwing any excess away. It's the Marmite of the drinking world."
- 3 a large pot especially one with legs used e.g. for cooking soup wordnet
- 4 soup cooked in a large pot wordnet
- 1 To apply Marmite to. transitive
"My toast carefully Marmited, I took a bite and immediately felt as if I’d been hit in the face by an ocean wave, a wave befouled by oil from a sinking tanker, oil that had caused a die-off of marine birds and invertebrates, creatures whose decomposing bodies were adding to the general funkiness that had found its way inside my mouth."
- 1 Divisive, such that one either loves or hates it; polarizing. UK, informal
"But that 10% gap between fans and detractors leaves room for an interesting concept: is there something more Marmite than Marmite?"
- 1 Alternative letter-case form of Marmite. alt-of, proscribed
"Required: […] One tablespoonful of nutril or one small teaspoonful of marmite."
- 2 A brand of sticky, dark brown, strongly flavored spread based on a yeast extract (a by-product of beer brewing), eaten on toast, in sandwiches, in savory dishes, etc. Commonwealth
"Peyró has the grace to acknowledge that Marmite isn’t really a sauce before dismissing it as “filth”, and moving on to mint sauce."
Example
More examples"Tom thinks that Marmite is disgusting."
Etymology
From French marmite.
From French marmite (“cooking pot”). The common-noun sense derives from an advertising campaign (1996 and onwards) featuring the slogan love it or hate it.
Related phrases
More for "marmite"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.