egg roll

Meaning

1. A food made made by wrapping a combination of chopped vegetables, possibly meat, and sometimes noodles, in a sheet of dough, dipping the dough in egg or an egg wash, then deep frying it.
2. In many Asian countries and among their emigrants, an egg-based, flute-shaped pastry, with typically yellowish, flaky crust, often eaten as a sweet snack or dessert; a crispy biscuit roll.
3. An African snack resembling a Scotch egg.
4. An instance of the egg rolling tradition.

Synonyms

spring roll

Saigon roll

Translations

rouleau de printemps

nem

pâté impérial

rollo de huevo

loempia

arrollado primavera

involtino primavera

rouleau impérial

Nem

Frühlingsrolle

Etymology

(food):
From egg + roll, modelled after spring roll. The use of egg in the name is probably because the words for spring and egg sound the same in Cantonese, while egg rolls usually contain no egg.