pareve

Meanings

1. Of food: that has no meat or milk in any form as an ingredient.
2. Neutral, bland, inoffensive.

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish פּאַרעוו, פּאַרעווע (parev, pareve), of uncertain origin. Suggestions include: * Perhaps from Middle High German bar (“bare, naked”), from Old High German bar, and thus cognate with English bare. * Perhaps from a West Slavic source such as Czech párový (“occurring in pairs”), because according to Jewish dietary laws, meat and milk cannot be combined, but as pareve food contains neither, it can be paired with either meat dishes or milk dishes.