tureen [E18th] The original form of tureen was terrine, from a French word for a large earthenware pot that goes back to Latin terra ‘earth’, source of *terrace, *territory, and many other words. From its arrival in the early 18th century terrine referred both to a pot and its contents, but not long after its arrival the ‘cooking pot’ sense began to be spelled tureen. There is a story that the change in spelling was influenced by Henri, Vicomte de Turenne (1611–75), Marshal General of France, who is said, apocryphally, to have drunk soup from his helmet.