haricot, n.
(ˈhærɪkəʊ, -kɒt)
Also 7 aricot, 8 arico, harricot, 8–9 harico, harrico.
[a. F. haricot (16th c. in Littré), in 14th c. hericoq de mouton (Hatz.-Darm.), hericot (Littré), in sense 1; in sense 2 Hatz.-Darm. cite fevre de haricot of 1642. Origin uncertain: see Littré.]
1. A ragout (originally of mutton, now sometimes of other meat). Also attrib.
| [1611 Cotgr., Haricot, mutton sod with little turneps, some wine, and tosts of bred crumbled among.] 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Haricot, a particular way of dressing Mutton-cutlets, or several sorts of Fowl and Fish in a Ragoo with Turneps; also a kind of French beans. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 102 Harico of a Neck of Mutton. 1816 Catherine Hutton in W. Hutton's Autobiog. Concl. 90 Harico of mutton and gooseberry pudding. 1870 Daily News 16 Nov., Irish stew or haricot mutton. |
2. A leguminous plant of the genus Phaseolus, especially P. vulgaris, the common Kidney-bean or French-bean: also haricot bean. Applied both to the plant and the beans or seeds. Also haricot blanc, haricot pod, haricot vert. See bean n. 3.
| 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxvi. 99 A little meal, aricot beans, onions..wherewith we made the best shift we could. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Arico, the French-Bean, or Kidney-Bean [see also 1]. 1792 A. Young Trav. France 353 Another course is to sow rye; after that millet; and with this harricots, or kidney-beans. 1815 M. Birkbeck Journ. thro' France 16 Women were every where hoeing French beans (Haricos). 1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery xv. 328 The haricot blanc is the seed of a particular kind of French bean. 1861 Delamer Kitch. Gard. 90 On the Continent..the ripe seeds, or haricots proper, are largely cultivated for winter use. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 175 Haricot beans frequently form part of the vegetables. 1877 E. S. Dallas Kettner's Bk. Table 242 (heading) Haricot pods, what the French call haricots verts; called also French beans. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 45/1 Vegetables, preserved, in Tins..Haricots Verts, extra fins—tin, 0/7½. 1941 A. L. Simon Conc. Encycl. Gastron. III. 46/2 In the U.S.A...there is a variety of canned String Beans..marketed under the name of Haricots verts. 1966 Harrod's Food News Sept. 2/1 Haricot Verts—8 oz. 3/3. 1967 Listener 20 Apr. 533/3 Chefs who bite the haricots verts or spit on the icing sugar. 1970 Sat. Rev. 3 Oct. 44/3 Cassoulet..usually includes goose..sausages, and haricots blancs or white beans. |
Hence haricot, harico v. trans., to make into a haricot (sense 1).
| 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 141 To harico a Neck of Mutton. 1805 Sporting Mag. XXV. 226 Veal cutlets, haricoed mutton. |