<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> An entrée (/ ˈɒ̃treɪ /, US also / ɒnˈtreɪ /; French: (ɑ̃tʁe)) in modern French table service and that of much of the English - speaking world (apart from the United States and parts of Canada) is a dish served before the main course of a meal; it may be the first dish served, or it may follow a soup or other small dish or dishes . In the United States and parts of Canada, and to a limited extent in France and other French - speaking areas, the term entrée refers to the main dish or the only dish of the meal . </P> <P> The word "entrée" as a culinary term first appears in print around 1536, in the Petit traicte auquel verrez la maniere de faire cuisine, in a collection of menus at the end of the book . There, the first stage of each meal is called the entree de table (entrance to the table); the second stage consists of potaiges (foods boiled or simmered "in pots"); the third consists of one or more services de rost (meat or fowl "roasted" in dry heat); and the last is the issue de table (departure from the table). These four stages of the meal appear consistently in this order in all the books that derive from the Petit traicté . </P>

Where is a starter (appetizer in the us) called an entrée