Mirleton

mir·li·ton

 (mîr′lĭ-tŏn′, mîr-lē-tôN′)

n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana


[Louisiana French, (perhaps from the kazoolike shape of chayote fruit) from French mirliton, coin, reed pipe with a vibrating membrane, kazoo, perhaps from a song refrain (such as mireli, mirela, refrain of the popular 16th-century song "Dessus le marché d'Arras" describing a man offering money to a young woman for her favors).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mirliton

(ˈmɜːlɪtɒn)

n

(Cookery) another name (chiefly US) for chayote

[C19: French, literally: reed pipe, of imitative origin]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014