large deep serving dish with a cover; for serving soups and stews
Deep-sided, covered dishes used in serving soups and stews at the table.
(French, terrine, "flat-bottomed dish") A deep, usually oval bowl with a lid, for serving soup; also, a smaller vessel with the same form, for serving sauce or gravy.
A tureen is a broad, deep oval vessel with fixed loop handles and a low domed cover with a knob, used for serving foods such as soups or stews. Tureens may be ceramic—either the glazed earthenware called faience or porcelain—or silver, and customarily they stand on a serving plate en suite. The tureen's prehistory may be traced to the use of the communal bowl, but during the reign of Louis XIV it was developed from a practical covered serving vessel into one of the most richly ornamented centerpieces of the formal apparatus of dining.