foodways

plural noun

food·​ways ˈfüd-ˌwāz How to pronounce foodways (audio)
: the eating habits and culinary practices of a people, region, or historical period

Examples of foodways in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Their efforts — at researching Levantine foodways and then pushing ever so gently against their boundaries — have culminated in a flatbread that borrows from street food traditions without being subservient to them. Tim Carman, Washington Post, 5 Dec. 2022 Many people have worked toward making foodways more sustainable, but often to the detriment of the actual taste of the end product. Tori Latham, Robb Report, 30 Nov. 2022 Dana Thompson, who along with Sherman co-founded the nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems, sees the restoration of traditional foodways as key to addressing health and economic crises in Native communities. Harmeet Kaur, CNN, 23 Nov. 2022 When laid bare, these facts reveal a serious problem with our global food chain, starting with the risk of losing our traditional foodways and by no means ending with the danger of vulnerability in the face of climate change. Devorah Lev-Tov, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Nov. 2022 See All Example Sentences for foodways

Word History

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of foodways was in 1941

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Foodways.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foodways. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!