What does seasoning mean?
Seasoning is the substance used to give food additional flavor, including salt, herbs, spices, or prepared mixtures such as Italian seasoning. The word can also refer to the process of flavoring food, as when a cook adjusts a sauce with pepper or another spice. In everyday use, seasoning is usually treated as an uncountable noun, although “seasonings” is used when different varieties or products are being discussed. As a verb, “to season” most commonly means to flavor food, but it can also describe the related practice of maturing or conditioning materials such as wood or metal. Seasoning carries a practical and culinary connotation: it is the added element that changes or intensifies a dish’s taste without replacing the food’s own flavor. Its history is closely connected with the development of the word “season,” whose ultimate roots relate to tasting and the idea of giving food a distinctive taste.
A substance such as salt, herbs, spices, or a mixture of these used to impart flavor to food. By extension, it can refer to the process of flavoring food or allowing its flavor to develop.
"The recipe calls for a simple seasoning of salt, pepper, and dried herbs."
Usually a mass noun when referring to flavoring as a general substance; the plural is used for distinct products or varieties.
To flavor food by adding salt, herbs, spices, or another seasoning. In a less common sense, to season means to mature or condition wood, metal, or similar material for use.
"The chef seasoned the vegetables before placing them in the oven."
The culinary verb is normally transitive. The mature-or-condition sense is more specialized and commonly occurs with materials such as timber, metal, or clay.
The noun is usually uncountable when referring to seasoning as a substance; the plural refers to different kinds or products.
"The shop sells a range of grill seasonings and herb blends."
Seasoning is where plain food gets its identity: the name comes from the same Latin root associated with tasting.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does seasoning come from?
Seasoning was formed in English from “season” plus the suffix “-ing.” “Season” came through Old French saison from Latin sationem, originally referring to a time for sowing and ultimately connected with Latin sapere, “to taste” or “to perceive by taste.” In early modern English, “season” developed the culinary sense of giving food a distinctive flavor, from which “seasoning” developed as a name for the added substance and the process of adding it. The related English words “savour,” “savor,” and “sapid” also reflect Latin roots associated with taste.
Related word forms
How seasoning is actually used
In the culinary sense, the noun is commonly treated as a mass noun, though plural forms can refer to different products or kinds. The verb is usually transitive; in the less common sense of maturing or conditioning, it applies to food, timber, metal, or similar materials.
Easily confused with seasoning
Seasoning is a flavoring or the act of giving food flavor, whereas season also refers to a time of year and, as a verb, means to flavor or mature something.