Ketchup

[Lennon]

Where in the world did they come up with that name for tomato sauce?

[linlam]

Ketchup is said to be derived from ke-tsiap -- a spicy pickled-fish condiment popular in China. I found that out by going into google and typing define:ketchup in the window. it's a great little tool, but you must remember the colon.

[Quizmonster]

Dear Lennon, click on http://www.yourdictionary.com/ to be taken to the Yourdictionary website. Once there, type your word - eg ketchup - into the slot and click on 'Go'. The new page will tell you how many matches there are for your word. Below that list, click on the blue-coloured word itself. The new page shows how to pronounce the word - you can even click to hear it spoken - and its definition. Next, its etymology and history, which are what you are asking about here, are listed. In the case of 'ketchup', its most direct source is Malay which may possibly have derived from Chinese. Save the website in your favourites list for easy future reference. Cheers