'Brencheese' Is Now In The Oxford English Dictionary, But Do You Know What It Means?

Even if you think your food vocabulary is right up there with the culinary elite, you may need to dive for a dictionary to look up this tasty word. Ever heard of "brencheese"? It could be the name of a French winery, or a bench medieval knights sat on when food was served. Maybe it's a goblet for water, or a way of thinly slicing Cheddar. Nope, none of those: "Brencheese" simply refers to bread and cheese when eaten together.

It sounds like something Ned Stark might call for in Game of Thrones, and indeed, it has a long history, stretching back to 1665. But it's just now being added to the famed Oxford English Dictionary, along with about 1,000 other new or refreshed entries.

Katherine Connor Martin, who heads U.S. dictionary operations, told The Associated Press that it's not unusual for an older word such as "brencheese" to just now be making the cut.

"It's funny because we talk about new words, but many of the words we add are already obsolete. It's just that they were never in the dictionary before," Martin said. She added the dictionary usually tracks words for about a decade before deciding they're worthy of adding.

Other new OED additions also include other food terms, such as amaro (an Italian herbal liqueur), beerfest (exactly what it sounds like), and broccoli rabe.

Brencheese sounds complex when you first hear it, but it can be as simple as a good ol' grilled cheese sandwich. You can experience the art of brencheese by exploring the 15 best over-the-top grilled-cheese sandwiches in America.