praline

UK: /ˈprɑːliːn/

US: /ˈpreɪlin, ˈprɑ-/

US: (prä′lēn, prā′-, prä lēn′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

pra•line /ˈpreɪlin, ˈprɑ-/   n. 

1. Food a kind of candy made of nuts, esp. almonds or pecans, and sugar cooked until it is like hard caramel:
   [uncountable] a piece of praline.
   [countable] buying some pralines at the store.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

pra•line  (prä′lēn, prā′-, prä lēn′), n. 

1. Food a French confection consisting of a caramel-covered almond or, sometimes, a hazelnut.
2. Food a cookie-size confection made esp. of butter, brown sugar, and pecans: developed in New Orleans in the early 19th century.
3. Food a similar confection of nuts mixed or covered with chocolate, coconut, maple sugar or syrup, etc.

• French; named after Marshall César du Plessis-Praslin (1598–1675), whose cook invented them
• 1715–25

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

praline / ˈprɑːliːn/ noun

1. a confection of nuts with caramelized sugar, used in desserts and as a filling for chocolates
2. Also called: sugared almond a sweet consisting of an almond encased in sugar

Etymology: 18th Century: from French, named after César de Choiseul, comte de Plessis-Praslin (1598–1675), French field marshal whose chef first concocted it