Standard Lemma guide

marmite

adj · name · noun · verb · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈmɑː(ɹ)maɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmɑːˌmaɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈmɑɹˌmaɪt/

1

adj

Meaning 1

Divisive, such that one either loves or hates it; polarizing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

Alternative letter-case form of Marmite.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, proscribed

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

name

Meaning 3

A brand of sticky, dark brown, strongly flavored spread based on a yeast extract (a by-product of beer brewing), eaten on toast, in sandwiches, in savory dishes, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Commonwealth

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A rounded cooking pot of various designs, commonly pot-bellied, with or without tripod, handles, lid etc; originally earthenware but currently more commonly of cast iron or other metals.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1824 Thomas Gill. The Technical Repository p. 180: XXXV: On the French Marmite, or Pot-au-Feu: and on preparing Bouillon with it My little boy having been ill of a fever for forty days, I have learned from his attendant how to make the celebrated soup (bouillon) of Paris: and finding it to be superior to any that I ever before tasted, I take the liberty to send you the directions necessary to enable any one to prepare this cheap and desirable food. Earthen-pots with covers, made to hold from one to seven pounds of meat, are found in every family. The marmite bought for me was for one-and-a-half pound only: this quantity of lean meat (bœufmaigre), was always part of the leg or shoulder: it was put into the marmite, which was then filled up with cold water, about five pints, and placed on the hearth, close to the wood-fire; and when it began to simmer or boil gently, it threw up a scum, which was carefully taken off from time to time with a spoon, for the space of threequarters of an hour, which perfectly cleansed the meat and water from every impurity.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Something which people either love or hate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, countable, informal, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To apply Marmite to.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

a large pot especially one with legs used e.g. for cooking soup

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: pot

8

noun

Meaning 8

soup cooked in a large pot

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: soup

History

Etymology

From French marmite (“cooking pot”). The common-noun sense derives from an advertising campaign (1996 and onwards) featuring the slogan love it or hate it.

Borrowed from French marmite.