menu

Imagine walking into a cozy Italian restaurant, with the smell of garlic and tomatoes in the air. Before the food arrives, you are handed a menu—a list of dishes and drinks you can choose from. But it is not just for restaurants. A computer program can have a menu of commands, and a hotel or spa can offer a menu of services or treatments. In everyday English, the word often means any list of choices put in front of you to help you decide.

A menu most commonly refers to a list of food and drinks offered at a restaurant, cafe, or other place that serves meals. It often includes the names of dishes, short descriptions, and prices. For example: "The menu featured seasonal dishes made with local ingredients."

However, the idea of a menu goes far beyond food. Any organized list of options or choices can be called a menu. Think about the menu on your computer screen, with different commands and settings. Or think about a hotel's menu of services, such as laundry, room service, or guided tours.

The word can also be used in a wider or more figurative way. It may describe the range of things available in a situation. If you say, "Life presented her with a difficult menu of choices," you mean she had several hard options in front of her. In the same way, people may speak of a "menu of services," a "menu of options," or even a "policy menu."

The word comes from French, where menu had the sense of something small or detailed. Over time, it came to mean a detailed list of dishes, and from there its meaning widened to include many other kinds of lists of choices.

So whether you are choosing dinner, clicking through software, or looking at a set of services, a menu is simply something that shows you what is available and helps you choose.