Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"fritter," 1835, from French beignet "fritter, eggroll, doughnut" (14c.), from Old French buigne "bump, lump," from Frankish or some other Germanic source (compare Middle High German bunge "clod, lump"), or from Gaulish *bunia (compare Gaelic bonnach).
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context UK English) A fritter (with a fruit or vegetable filling). 2 (context US English) A Louisiana-style fried donut or fritter covered in powdered sugar.
Wikipedia
Beignet (; , literally bump), synonymous with the English "fritter", is the French term for a pastry made from deep-fried choux pastry. Beignets can also be made from other types of dough, including yeast dough.
The tradition of deep-frying fruits for a side dish dates to the time of Ancient Rome, while the tradition of beignets in Europe is speculated to have originated with a heavy influence of Islamic culinary tradition. The term beignet can be applied to two varieties, depending on the type of pastry. The French-style beignet in the United States, has the specific meaning of deep-fried choux pastry. Beignets can also be made with yeast pastry, which might be called boules de Berlin in French, referring to Berliner doughnuts which have a spherical shape (i.e. they do not have the typical doughnut hole) filled with fruit or jam.
In Corsica, beignets made with chestnut flour (Beignets de farine de châtaigne) are known as fritelli.
Donuts in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada are referred to as Beignet in French.
Usage examples of "beignet".
Gabriel and Christian ignored their steaming coffee, beignets, and omelets to listen, enraptured and respectfully, to the story of Apollonius of Tyana.
The only scents on the early morning breeze were of heaping platters of freshly puffed-up beignets and oceans of chicory-laced coffee.
He had forgotten the first rule of dining in New Orleans, namely: Never eat beignets while wearing black.
It was said that the emergency rooms and walk-in clinics of the Queen City were frequently jammed by periodic influxes of out-of-towners who had unwisely attempted to eat beignets and talk at the same time, almost choking to death in the process.
Monde when it was really only a multiple beignet pileup on the interstate.
That means beignets and crayfish bisque and jambalaya, it means shrimp remoulade, pecan pie, and red beans with rice, it means elegant pompano au papillote, funky file z'herbes, and raw oysters by the dozen, it means grillades for breakfast, a po' boy with chowchow at bedtime, and tubs of gumbo in between.
Lizette and I went inside the Cafe Du Monde and I ordered two coffees with warm milk and two orders of beignets from a waiter who was originally from New Jersey but had lived most of his life only a few miles from College Station, Texas.