The French word saucisse, which entered English as sausage, also gave rise to the word saucisson, which literally means big sausage. Since appearing in English in the late eighteenth century, however, saucisson has developed a perhaps more useful meaning: it now designates a sausage that does not need to be cooked before it is eaten. Somewhat bizarrely, this new sense means that the humble hot dog, which may be rendered edible simply by thawing it on a hot car hood, is technically a saucisson.