Made by alternating layers of meat, fish, and vegetables with layers of broken biscuits, the dish known as sea-pie does not really have anything to do with the sea or with pie. Rather, the name originated in the mid eighteenth century when the English heard, and then attempted to spell, the French word dpaille, a word pronounced like sea-pie and referring to a similar layered dish. In turn, this French dish may have derived its name from the Latin caepa, meaning onion, because, like an onion, it is made of many layers; alternatively, the French name may have originated as six-pates, pronounced see-pat and meaning six-pastry, a name suggesting the number of layers in the dish.