prix

prix — noun

1. a multi-course restaurant meal that costs one set amount decided by the restaura

1.nounB2
Definition

a multi-course restaurant meal that costs one set amount decided by the restaurant, rather than charging separately for each dish ordered

Example

The French bistro offered a three-course prix fixe for twenty-two euros.

collocation: three-course prix fixe

Élise and Mert chose the prix fixe because it included both an appetizer and dessert.

Common collocations
  • prix fixe menu
  • three-course prix fixe
  • lunch prix fixe
  • dinner prix fixe
  • prix fixe option
Synonyms
  • set menu

    more general term for a meal with limited choices at a fixed price

  • fixed-price menu

    more literal English equivalent, less French-sounding

  • table d'hôte

    formal French term for a similar multi-course fixed-price meal

Antonyms
  • à la carte

    ordering each dish separately rather than as a fixed-price meal

Grammar Patterns

prix fixe + noun (menu, dinner, option)

Usage Note

The headword 'prix' is a French borrowing and nearly always appears within the compound noun 'prix fixe' (also written without hyphen as a two-word phrase). It is rarely used alone in English.

Common Mistakes

The prix of that jacket is too high.
The price of that jacket is too high.
'prix' in English refers only to a fixed-price meal, not to the general concept of a price.

Word family

  • prix fixe
    noun phraseB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Prix fixe' (or the shortened 'prix') is a French borrowing that specifically describes a multi-course meal sold at a single set price. 'Set menu' is the broader English equivalent and can refer to any meal with limited choices regardless of pricing structure, while 'fixed-price menu' is more literal and transparent to English speakers who do not know French. 'Table d'hôte' is another French restaurant term for a shared fixed-price meal that is less common in everyday English and sounds more formal. For example, a restaurant might advertise 'a three-course prix fixe for $35' but describe a daily special board as 'the set menu.'

set menufixed-price menutable d'hôte

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • prix fixe

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Borrowed directly from French 'prix' meaning 'price,' which comes from Latin 'pretium' (price, value). The compound 'prix fixe' (literally 'fixed price') entered English restaurant vocabulary in the early twentieth century through French culinary culture, referring to a meal whose total cost is set by the restaurant in advance.