marinade: [17] Etymologically, to put food in a marinade is virtually to dunk it in the ‘sea’; for the word comes via French from Spanish marinada, a derivative of marina ‘of the sea’. It originally signified strictly a ‘brine pickle’ (hence the reference to the sea), and only gradually broadened out to include vinegar and other preservatives. The related verb marinate [17] comes from French mariner or Italian marinare. => marine
1704, from French marinade "spiced vinegar or brine for pickling," from mariner "to pickle" (see marinate). As a verb from 1680s. Related: Marinaded; marinading.
