Lagniappe
A “lagniappe” (pronounced “lan-yap”) means something extra, a gratuity or a bonus. For example, if one buys a dozen donuts, an extra donut might be included free as a “lagniappe.”
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has this etymology: “American French, from American Spanish la ñapa the lagniappe, from la + ñapa, yapa, from Quechua yapa something added.”
The earliest citations are in the French language, and are from New Orleans, Louisiana, where “lagniappe” is most popular. “LA GNIAPE” (the signature after an article in French) was printed in The Louisiana Gazette (New Orleans, LA) on September 15, 1824. “He should throw in a newspaper pour la gniappe (gratis)” was printed in The Democrat (Huntsville, AL) on November 4, 1830. “... c’etait pour la gniappe, comme disent les Louisianais” was printed in the Courrier des Etats-Unis (New York, NY) on October 8, 1842.
“When Mr. Hunt concluded, the meeting, on motion, adjourned, giving three loud cheers, and one by way of lagniappe, for the cause” was printed in the New Orleans (LA) Weekly Delta on March 20, 1848.
Wikipedia: Lagniappe
A lagniappe (/ˈlænjæp/ LAN-yap, /lænˈjæp/ lan-YAP) is “a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase” (such as a 13th doughnut on purchase of a dozen), or more broadly, “something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure.” It can be used more generally as meaning any extra or unexpected benefit.
The word entered English from the Louisiana French adapting a Quechua word brought in to New Orleans by the Spanish Creoles.
Etymology
(...)
Lagniappe is derived from the South American Spanish phrase la yapa or ñapa (referring to a free extra item, usually a very cheap one). La is the feminine definite article in Spanish as well as in French (la ñapa or la gniappe = the ñapa/gniappe). The term has been traced back to the Quechua word yapay (‘to increase; to add’). In Andean markets it is still customary to ask for a yapa (translates as “a little extra”) when making a purchase. The seller usually responds by throwing in a little extra.
Although this is an old custom, it is still widely practiced in Louisiana.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
lagniappe
noun
la·gniappe ˈlan-ˌyap lan-ˈyap
: a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase
broadly : something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure
Etymology
American French, from American Spanish la ñapa the lagniappe, from la + ñapa, yapa, from Quechua yapa something added
First Known Use
1844, in the meaning defined above
Newspapers.com
15 September 1824, The Louisiana Gazette (New Orleans, LA), pg. 3, col. 2:
LA GNIAPE.
(This is the signature at the end of an article written in French.—ed.)
Newspapers.com
29 September 1824, The Louisiana Gazette (New Orleans, LA), pg. 3, col. 3:
LA GNIAPE.
(This is the signature at the end of an article written in French.—ed.)
Newspapers.com
4 November 1830, The Democrat (Huntsville, AL), “Anecdote,” pg. 4, col. 3:
On the post master’s refusing to grant this very reasonable request, they insisted that he should throw in a newspaper pour la gniappe, (gratis.)
8 October 1842, Courrier des Etats-Unis (New York, NY), pg. 406, col. 1:
... c’etait pour la gniappe, comme disent les Louisianais.
Chronicling America
29 July 1846, The Mississippi Democrat (Carrollton, MS), pg. 1, col. 1:
FOURTH JULY AT MATAMORAS.
Correspondence of the N. O. Delta.
(...)
... which is answered by the little 6s in each regiment, followed by three times three, and three for la gniappe, from 10,000 mouths, which reverberates and echoes along the banks of the Rio Grande.
Newspapers.com
8 December 1847, Washington (AR) Telegraph, pg. 3, col. 3:
From the N. O. Delta.
NOTES FROM CAPT. TOBIN’S KNAPSACK.
(...)
The killed four greasers on suspicion of being guerrillas—(so Raimes and Patterson are avenged, with two for la gniappe)—brought in seven prisoners, and a lot of mule and black cattle.
Newspapers.com
20 March 1848, New Orleans (LA) Weekly Delta, pg. 178, col. 4:
When Mr. Hunt concluded, the meeting, on motion, adjourned, giving three loud cheers, and one by way of lagniappe, for the cause.
Google Books
Life on the Mississippi
By Mark Twain
Boston, MA: James R. Osgood & Co.
1883
Pp. 255-256:
We picked up one excellent word—a word worth travelling to New Orleans to get; a nice limber, expressive, handy word—“lagniappe.” They pronounce it lanny-yap. It is Spanish—so they said. We discovered it at the head of a column of odds and ends in the Picayune, the first day; heard twenty people use it the second; inquired what it meant the third; adopted it and got facility in swinging it the fourth. It has a restricted meaning, but I think the people spread it out a little when they choose. It is the equivalent of the thirteenth roll in a “baker’s dozen.” It is something thrown in, gratis, for good measure. The custom originated in the Spanish quarter of the city. When a child or a servant buys something in a shop—or even the mayor or the governor, for aught I know—he finishes the operation by saying—
“Give me something for lagniappe.”
The shopman always responds; gives the child a bit of licorice-root, gives the servant a cheap cigar or a spool of thread, gives the governor—I don’t know what he gives the governor; support, likely.
When you are invited to drink, and this does occur now and then in New Orleans—and you say, “What, again?—no, I’ve had enough;” the other party says, “But just this one time more—this is for lagniappe.” When the beau perceives that he is stacking his compliments a trifle too high, and sees by the young lady’s countenance that the edifice would have been better with the top compliment left off, he puts his “I beg pardon—no harm intended,” into the briefer form of “Oh, that’s for lagniappe.”
Newspapers.com
12 December 1889, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS), pg. 5, col. 5 ad:
LAN YAP!
(E. T. Montgomery & Co.,—ed.)
Newspapers.com
27 June 1890, Kentucky Advocate (Danville, KY), pg. 3, col. 3:
La Gniappe, or as it is now written as one word, Lagniappe, may be seen at the head of columns if miscellaneous article in many of the great newspapers of the present day. This word was originally used by the Huma Indians, a numerous tribe inhabiting the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, from whom it was borrowed by the French of Louisiana. An Indian who purchased a bottle of ardent spirits was given a dram into the bargain, which was finally demanded as a right and which he called la-gniappe. This custom followed in all small transaction until la-gniappe was given with every sale. At the present day if a customer buys a bunch of vegetables at a New Orleans market he receives from the vendor something over—perhaps an onions; this onion is la gniappe. Transferred to newspapers la gniappe means something over.
Newspapers.com
13 March 1893, The Times-Democrat (New Orleans, LA), “Questions and Answers,” pg. 3, col. 5:
The word lagniappe (the i is superfluous) is a gallicized form of napa; the origin of the latter word is very obscure, the language or dialect to which it belongs being unknown. It is said by some authorities to have been brought here by slaves from the Antilles, say San Domingo, and may be a low Spanish word, in which the n is given a liquid sound, so that nappa is easily transformed into lagnappe.
Newspapers.com
15 April 1893, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), “Lagniappe,” pg. 4, col. 2:
The word “langiappe” is a transformation of the Spanish phrase “la nappa,” which means a gratuity, a sweetener, to make a purchaser pleased with his bargain. The word “Nappa” is not spelled with the common N, but the N with the reverse curve dash over it, which has the sound of “gn” in French or “n” in “pinion” in English. It is a relic of the old SPanish dominion in Louisiana, and, if not especially picturesque, was always characteristic and peculiar to this city. As is known to all readers of the Picayune, this paper has for many years maintained a column of humorous poetic and prose items under the title of “Lagniappe.” This will be maintained, andd when the ancient custom of giving these little gratuities shall be no longer known in this city, the “Lagniappe” in the Picayune will at least perpetuate a remembrance of it.