An entrée (/ˈɑːntreɪ/ /ˈɒntreɪ/ AHN-tray; French for "entrance", pronounced: [ɑ̃tʁe]) refers to types of dishes. In French cuisine, as well as in the English-speaking world (save for the United States and parts of Canada), it is a dish served before the main course, or between two principal courses of a meal. In North American English, the term retains an older meaning describing a heavy, meat course, due to the disappearance in the early 20th century of a large communal main course, such as a roast, as a standard part of the meal in the English-speaking world. This use of the term is almost unheard of outside North America, as most other English speakers follow contemporary French usage, generally considering the word "entrée" to mean a first course. In 1961 Julia Child and her co-authors outlined the character of such entrées, which – when they did not precede a roast – might serve as the main course of a luncheon, in a chapter of "Entrées and Luncheon Dishes" that included quiches, tarts and gratins, soufflés and timbales, gnocchi, quenelles and crêpes. In 1970, Richard Olney, an American living in Paris, gave the place of the entrée in a French full menu: "A dinner that begins with a soup and runs through a fish course, an entrée, a sorbet, a roast, salad, cheese and dessert, and that may be accompanied by from three to six wines, presents a special problem of orchestration".

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