Jell-O

See also: jello, Jello, and jellõ

English

Alternative forms

jello
Jello (AHD)
Jell-o (Collins Word Exchange - may be an error)
JELL-O (Company’s own web site)

Etymology

Trademarked by Pearle Bixby Wait and named by his wife, May Wait. Clipping of gelatin and jelly, both ultimately from Latin gelō (“to freeze, cause to congeal”), following a then relatively popular trend in the United States to add “O” to the end of products, which according to The Dictionary of Trade Names Origins started because the letter is pleasing to the eye.^[1] By surface analysis, jell (“jelly”) +‎ -o.

Pronunciation

Audio (US): (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɛloʊ/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɛləʊ/
Rhymes: -ɛləʊ

Proper noun

Jell-O

(US, Canada) A brand of dessert made from gelatin.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:Jell-O.
(genericized trademark, by extension) Any brand of fruit flavored gelatin dessert mix.
Synonym: (UK, Australia) jelly

The store brand Jell-O is just as good and one third the price.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:Jell-O.

Derived terms

References

^ Matt Buzz (24 January 2014), “The Fascinating, Untold History of Jell-O”, in Gizmodo‎^[1], archived from the original on 25 January 2014:
May named her and her husband’s new favorite dessert “Jell-O,” a combined version of the words gelatin and jelly (with both words deriving from the Latin “gelare”[…]). […] around this time in America it was simply a relatively popular trend to add “O” to the end of your product name. According to The Dictionary of Trade Names Origins, the practice got started simply because “O” is pleasing to the eye.

[1] Matt Buzz (24 January 2014), “The Fascinating, Untold History of Jell-O”, in Gizmodo‎^[1], archived from the original on 25 January 2014:
May named her and her husband’s new favorite dessert “Jell-O,” a combined version of the words gelatin and jelly (with both words deriving from the Latin “gelare”[…]). […] around this time in America it was simply a relatively popular trend to add “O” to the end of your product name. According to The Dictionary of Trade Names Origins, the practice got started simply because “O” is pleasing to the eye.

[1]