A marinade is a flavorful liquid that you soak food in before cooking it. The word comes from the Latin word for sea (mare), because sailors used to preserve meat in salty seawater.

When you marinate chicken, beef, or vegetables, you're letting them sit in a mixture that usually includes things like oil, vinegar or citrus juice, herbs, and spices. The liquid does two important jobs: it adds flavor deep into the food, and the acidic ingredients (like lemon juice or vinegar) help make tough meat more tender.

A marinade works over time. You might marinate chicken for an hour, or leave tougher cuts of meat in the refrigerator overnight. The longer the food sits in the marinade, the more the flavors seep in. Common marinades include teriyaki sauce for Asian dishes, Italian dressing for grilled vegetables, or a mixture of yogurt and spices for Indian cuisine.

The verb form is marinate: “We need to marinate the steak for a few hours before dinner.” People sometimes use marinate to mean spending a long time thinking about something, like when someone says, “Let me marinate on that idea for a while.”