The Oxford English Dictionary
("OED") is generally regarded as one of the premier authoritative
sources for the
definition and etymology of words in the English language.
The OED has many definitions and alternate spellings for barbecue.
Of particular interest are the OED's citations to the earliest known
use of the word in the English language.
The OED gives as the earliest known usage in the English language a
use of the verb form in 1661 by Hickeringill, in the book Jamaica,
at p. 76, which states:
The OED states that the word "barbecue" was derived from the
Spanish word, barbacoa which itself was taken from a Haitian
word, barbacoa, meaning a framework of sticks set upon posts.
As authority for this derivation, the OED gives E.B. Taylor.
Infra, OED Vol. I, p. 665 (1933, Clarendon Press, Oxford).
The OED (1933 ed.) has a long definition of barbecue, which
includes the etymology of the word and its earliest known use, as
follows::
Barbecue (ba rbi kiu), sb. Forms:
7 barbecu, 7-8 borbecu, 8 barbicue, 7 9 barbacue, 8- barbecue, (9
babracot). [ad. Sp. barbacoa, a. Haitian barbacoa
(E. B. Taylor) 'a framework of sticks set upon posts';
evidently the same as the babracot (?a French spelling) of
the Indians of Guiana, mentioned by Im Thurn. (The alleged Fr.
barbe a queue 'beard to tail,' is an absurd conjecture
suggested merely by the sound of the word.)]
1. A rude wooden framework, used in America for
sleeping on, and for supporting above a fire meat that is to be
smoked or dried.
1697 Dampier Voy.
(1699) I. 20 And lay there all night,
upon our Borbecu's, or frames of Sticks, raised about 3 foot from
the Ground. Ibid I. 86 His
Couch or Barbecu of Sticks. 1879
Boddam-Whetham
Roraima xiv. 155 For preservation, a
barbecue is erected, and the fish are smoked over a fire.
1883 Im Thurn
Indians of Guiana ii. 47 Fire, above
which were babracots loaded with beef. -- xi.
248 A babracot is a stage of green sticks built over a fire
on which the meat is laid.
2. An iron frame for broiling very large joints.
1736 Bailey
Househ. Dict. 347 When the belly side is
... steady upon the gridiron or barbecue, pour into the belly of the
hot, etc.
3. A hog, ox, or other animal broiled or roasted
while; see also quot. 1861, and Barbecue
v. 2.
1764 Foote
Patron I. i. (1774) 6, I am invited to
dinner on a barbicu. 1825 Schuylkill Fishing Co.
in Bibliographer Dec. (1881) 25/I A
fine barbacue with spiced sauce. 1861 Tylor
Anahuac iv. 95 A kid that
had been cooked in a hole in the ground, with enbers upon it... This
is called a 'barbacoa' -- a barbecue.
4. (in U.S.) A large social entertainment,
usually in the open air, at which animals are roasted whole, and
other provisions liberally supplied.
1809 W Irving
Knickerb. iv. ix. (1849) 240 Engaged
in a great 'barbecue,' a kind of festivity or carouse much practised
in Merryland. 1884 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl.
27 Oct. 2/3 At the Brooklyn barbecue,
which Governor Cleveland recently attended, 5000 kegs of beer were
dispensed.
5. An open floor on which coffee-beans, etc. may be
spread out to dry.
1855 Kingsley
Westw. Ho I xix. (D.), The barbecu
or terrace of white plaster, which ran all round the front.
1883 Cassetll's Mag. Aug. 528/I
The [coffee-]beans..are carried to the 'barbacue,' an open
space paved with cement or asphalte, where they are spread on
matting..to dry. 1885 Lady
Brassey In
Trades 235 A barbecue is the name
given, in Jamaica, to the house which contains the threshing-floor
and apparatus for drying the coffee.
Barbecue (ba rbi kiu), v. Forms: 7-9
barbacue, -icu(e, 8- ikew, 8- barbecue. [f. prec. sb.]
1. To dry or cure 9 (flesh, etc.) by exposure upon a
barbecue; see the sb. (senses I and 5).
1661 Hickeringill
Jamaica 76 Some are slain, And
their flesh forthwith Barbau'd and eat. 1775 Adair
Amer. Ind. 408 They cut
them [pompions] into..slices, which they barbacue, or dry with a
slow heat. 1794 Stedman
Surinam (1813)
I. xv. 406 They use little or no salt, but barbacue
their game and fiwsh in the smoke. 1839 [see Barbecued
1].
2. To broil or roast (an animal) whole;
e.g. to split a hog to the backbone, fill the belly with wine
and stuffing, and cook it on a huge gridiron, basting with wine.
Sometimes, to cook (a joint) with the same accessories. See
also Barbecue sb.
3.
1690 Mrs.
Behn Widow
R. II. iv. 356 Let's barbidu this fat
rogue. 1702 C Mather
Magn. Christi VII. vi. (1852) 556
When they came to see the bodies of so many of their
countrymen terribly barbikew'd. 1769 Mrs.
Raffald Eng.
Housekpr. (1778) III
To barbecue a Leg or Pork. 1823 Lamb
Roast Pig, Elia (1867)
163 Barbecue your whole hogs to your
palate.
Barbecued (ba rbi kiud), ppl a. [f. prec. +
-ed.]
1. Dried or cured by exposure on a barbecue.
1737 Wesley Wks.
(1872) I. 44
A little barbecued bear's flesh, (that is dried in the sun).
1839 W Irving
Wolfert's R. (1855' 221 Loaded with
barbacued meat.
2. Broiled or roasted whole.
1732 Pope Horace'
Sat. II. ii. 26 Send me, Gods ! a
whole Hog barbecu'd ! 1807 Mrs.
Dorset
Peacock at H., A barbecued mouse was prepared for the owl.
1847 Barham
Ingol. Leg. (1877) 209 The
barbecu'd sucking-pig 's crisp'd to a turn.
Barbecuing, vbl. sb. [f. as prec. + -ing1..]
The action or process of the vb. Barbecue.
1716 Wodrow Corr. (1843) II.
150 When these diabolical operations
were gone through, they finished all by barbikewing of the gentleman
! 1794 Stedman
Surinam (1813) I.
261 The barbecuing consists in laying the fish upon twigs
of wood above the fire, where, by the smoke, they dry.
Barbecute, v. and ppl. a. ; also 9
babracot, -0ed.] Variants of Barbacue, -d.
1687 Clayton
in Phil. Trans. XLI. 160 A
Piece of Venison barbecuted, that is, wrapped up in leaves, and
roasted in the Embers. 1743 Dr.
Richmond ibib
XLII. 511 He then laid it quite
open like .. a Barbacute Pig to be broiled. 1883 Im.
Thurn Indians
ofGuiana xi. 248 The meat and most
of the fish is smoked or barbracoted. OED Vol. I, p. 665
(1933, Clarendon Press, Oxford).
The OED Supplement (1933 ed.) contains the following supplemental
information, which traces the first use even earlier: