ramekin

noun

Etymology: Borrowed from French ramequin, from dialectal Dutch rammeken (“cheese dish”) (compare Dutch rameken (“toasted bread”)) or Low German ramken (“cream”), equivalent to ream + -kin. Compare mannequin/mannikin, and compare creamer.

1. A small glass or earthenware dish, often white and circular, in which food is baked and served.

   “The starters have arrived, two triangles of buttered brown bread and a neat little ramekin of crab buried under a haystack of cress, which Smith promptly relocates so that she can sprinkle it over each mouthful.”

   “Setting the soufflés before us, the waitress warns that the ramekins are hot.”

2. A cheese- or meat-based dish baked in a small mold.