Definition

1. Noun:

   • A type of rice porridge or gruel: A traditional Asian dish, particularly Chinese, made by boiling rice in a large amount of water until it breaks down into a smooth, thick, and often savory soup. It is commonly eaten for breakfast or as a comfort food.
   • A formal dismissal or leave-taking: An archaic or formal term for permission to depart, or an abrupt dismissal.
   • A concave molding: In architecture, a type of molding with a concave profile.

2. Verb:

   • To take formal leave: To bid farewell ceremoniously, especially from a superior.
   • To bow ceremoniously: To perform a formal bow.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Food):

  • For a simple meal, she prepared a warm bowl of congee with ginger and scallions.
  • Chicken congee is a popular remedy when someone is feeling ill.

• Noun (Dismissal/Leave):

  • The ambassador received his congee from the court. (This usage is now rare.)

• Verb:

  • The envoy congeed from the presence of the monarch. (This usage is now rare.)

Advanced Usage

• The term congee is almost exclusively used in its culinary sense in modern English. The meanings related to dismissal, leave-taking, and architecture are highly specialized, archaic, or found only in historical texts.

Variants and Related Words

• Conge: An alternative spelling, primarily used for the meanings related to dismissal, leave, or the architectural molding.
  • He was given his conge. (He was dismissed.)

Synonyms

• Porridge: A dish of oatmeal or other meal or cereal boiled in water or milk. (This is a general synonym for the food, though "congee" specifically implies a rice-based version.)
• Gruel: A thin liquid food of oatmeal or other meal boiled in milk or water. (Similar to porridge, often with a implication of being plain or meager.)
• Dismissal: The act of ordering or allowing someone to leave. (For the archaic noun sense.)
• Valediction: The action of saying farewell. (For the formal leave-taking sense.)

Related Phrases

• Take one's congee: An archaic phrase meaning to take one's leave or depart formally.
  • After the audience, the nobles took their congee.

Notes on Usage

• In contemporary contexts, if you use the word congee, most listeners will assume you are referring to the rice porridge. The other definitions are obsolete outside of historical or very specific architectural discussions. When discussing the food, it is often modified by ingredients (e.g., , ).

Noun

1. an abrupt and unceremonious dismissal
2. formal permission to depart
   • he gave me his conge
3. (architecture) a concave molding
4. a Chinese rice gruel eaten for breakfast

Verb

1. perform a ceremonious bow
2. depart after obtaining formal permission
   • He has congeed with the King