à la carte

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à la carte

/ˌæ.ləˈkɑːt/ UK
/ˌæ.læˈkɑːt/ UK
/ˌɑ.ləˈkɑɹt/ US
/ˌɑ.lɑˈkɑɹt/ US

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)t

Where it comes from

Unadapted borrowing from French à la carte (“on the menu; according to the card”).

adjective a la carte · à-la-carte

not comparable Allowing selection from a fixed list of individually priced options shown on the menu. The restaurant had a huge à la carte menu and four specials that day.
Opposite: table d'hôte
broadly, figuratively, not comparable Selective; only choosing what one likes or desires. As twin studies proliferated throughout the nineteen-eighties, their results contributed to substantial changes in our moral intuitions. When schizophrenia and autism, for example, turned out to be largely heritable, we no longer blamed these disorders on cold or inept mothers. But, for such freight
Similar: cherry-picking
Philippines, not comparable A meal but only the viand (without rice).

adverb a la carte · à-la-carte

not comparable By ordering individually priced items from the menu. There were two divisions in the restaurants I used to visit. One division, which was patronized by fairly well-to-do people, provided any number of courses from which one chose and paid for à la carte, each dinner thus costing from one to two shillings. The other division provided six-penny dinners
Opposite: table d'hôte

Translations

Every language

adj allowing selection from a menu

한국어	아라카르트 arakareuteu
Português	à la carte

adv by ordering individually priced items from the menu

Español	a la carta
中文	單點 /单点 dāndiǎn
Português	à la carte
Français	à la carte
Deutsch	à la carte

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MLA

"à la carte." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/%C3%A0%20la%20carte. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

à la carte. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/%C3%A0%20la%20carte

Chicago

"à la carte." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/%C3%A0%20la%20carte.

BibTeX

@misc{a_la_carte_2026,
  title = {à la carte},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/%C3%A0%20la%20carte},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}