{ Ca*viare" (?), Cav"i*ar (?), } n. [F. caviar, fr. It. caviale, fr. Turk. Havīār.] The roes of the sturgeon, prepared and salted; -- used as a relish, esp. in Russia.

&fist; Caviare was considered a delicacy, by some, in Shakespeare's time, but was not relished by most. Hence Hamlet says of a certain play. "'T was caviare to the general," i. e., above the taste of the common people.