Uncertain, but probably ultimately from Hokkien 膎汁 (kê-chiap, “fish sauce”) via Malay kecap ~ kicap “any dark clear sauce from soy, fish etc”, though the precise path is unclear – there are related words in various Chinese languages. Various other theories exist – see Ketchup: Etymology for extended discussion. First appeared in English in the late 17th century in reference to a Southeast Asian sauce encountered by British traders and sailors. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that it was commonly used in the 18th century to refer to a variety of similar sauces with varying ingredients—"anchovies, mushrooms, walnuts, and oysters being particularly popular"—but by the late 19th century the current tomato ketchup became the most popular form. Catsup (earlier catchup) is an alternative Anglicization, still in use in the U.S., though it is now somewhat rare.
1
Canada, UK, US, Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of tomato ketchup (“a tomato-vinegar-based sauce, sometimes containing spices, onion or garlic, and (especially in the US) sweeteners”).
tomato ketchup
This diner serves ketchup in red bottles, and mustard in yellow ones.
2
Archaic Such a sauce more generally (not necessarily based on tomatoes, but with mushrooms, fish, etc.). This is the older meaning.
The bottles, however, were port bottles, but contained mushroom ketchup; […]1883, Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery, page lxxxiii:
To accompany meat, we prepare fruit ketchups and rhubarb chutney.2003, Inns and Bed and Breakfasts in Quebec 2003, Ulysses Travel Guides, page 46:
Uncertain, but probably ultimately from Hokkien 膎汁 (kê-chiap, “fish sauce”) via Malay kecap ~ kicap “any dark clear sauce from soy, fish etc”, though the precise path is unclear – there are related words in various Chinese languages. Various other theories exist – see Ketchup: Etymology for extended discussion. First appeared in English in the late 17th century in reference to a Southeast Asian sauce encountered by British traders and sailors. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that it was commonly used in the 18th century to refer to a variety of similar sauces with varying ingredients—"anchovies, mushrooms, walnuts, and oysters being particularly popular"—but by the late 19th century the current tomato ketchup became the most popular form. Catsup (earlier catchup) is an alternative Anglicization, still in use in the U.S., though it is now somewhat rare.
1
To cover with ketchup.
It strikes me she's "ketchupped" the lot! I won't touch a morsel!1867, John Maddison Morton, Aunt Charlotte's maid: a farce in one act:
"Well," said Chuck, ketchupping his hamburger, "I'd rather do without King Lear than put up with the human agony it sprang out of. I'd rather not have the Eroica than have the big bloody conqueror it tries to immortalize."1973, Horizon, page 15:
1 more example
Their fellow diners, like their ketchupped grub, were appropriately dashed and splattered with paint and plaster, reading their Suns and Daily Mirror.2009, David Silverman, Twinkle, page 4: