Link Centre Dictionary

confetti

con·fetti

UK/kənˈfɛ.ti/ US/kʌˈnfɛti/ uncommon rare

noun

1.

small pieces or streamers of colored paper that are thrown around on festive occasions (as at a wedding)

Origin

Borrowed (possibly via French) from Italian confetti (literally “confections”), used to describe sugar-coated almonds, and by extension things imitating them (like pellets of plaster), which were thrown in Italy during festivities like Carnival and weddings. (This practice is mentioned in English since at least the 1810s.) The French and the English adopted the practice of celebrating weddings and other festivities by throwing such candies, or (by the late 1800s) tiny pieces of colored paper symbolizing them, partially displacing their earlier practice of throwing rice.

Phrases

  • Belfast confetti
  • champagne confetti
  • confetti cake
  • Irish confetti

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.