mirliton

Meanings

1. A pear-shaped vegetable or its vine; the chayote.
2. The eunuch flute, a kind of kazoo or membranophone.
3. An 18th-century hussar hat resembling a slightly conical shako or tall fez.
4. A tartlet or biscuit garnished with almond, first produced in Rouen around 1800.

Etymology

From French. Coined as a nonce to advertise a new women's bonnet, mirliton came to be applied to any trifle or trinket before acquiring several specific meanings. Compare the English word folderol.