parfait

name

1. A surname from French [in turn transferred from the nickname].

noun

Etymology: Unadapted borrowing from French parfait (“perfect”). Doublet of parfit, perfect, perfecto, and perfectus.

1. A French parfait (parfait glacé), an iced dessert made with egg yolks, sugar, cream, and flavouring (usually fruit), sometimes with the addition of a liqueur.

   “Brad hesitated, peering at the grid of spun sugar that jutted from his loganberry parfait.”

2. An American parfait, a layered dessert often consisting of fruit, ice cream, pastries, whipped topping, etc. and served in a glass, often a parfait glass.

   “It was a parfait of puréed avocados, whipped cream, sugar and vanilla, which had been molded into a rectangle atop a peanut-butter crust and then bedecked with tiny wild strawberries. […] We were utterly transfixed, and we were quickly out of parfait.”

3. A smooth pâté, usually made from liver and flavoured with liqueurs.