Restaurants design them carefully — where the eye lands, how prices are written, which dish is placed to make the others look reasonable — and none of that is accidental. In computing a menu is a list of options, borrowed straight from this. Note that the French word means detailed, from the Latin for small.

Definitions of menu

1nounmenuThe list of dishes a restaurant offers.A2+
“The waiter handed us the menu and recommended the fish of the day.”
- Said"Could we see the menu again? I've changed my mind about dessert."
- WrittenThe menus were handwritten and different every day, which was the whole point of the place.
- UsedRead the entire menu before you order; the specials are on the back.
- ContrastA menu, not a bill. The menu comes first and tells you the price; the bill comes last and takes it. bill →
- Not thisThe dishes themselves are not the menu. The menu is the list; the food is what arrives.
Patternon the menu · a set / lunch / children's menu · order from the menu · menu of the day
2nounoptionsA list of options on a screen.A2
“Click on the menu in the top corner and choose Settings.”

Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.

menu is a list.

Remember it

ME-nU → what ME and yoU order from

Me and you across a table, each holding the same card and arguing about what to order from the menu.

Where it comes from

French menu means detailed or small, from Latin minutus. A menu was a detailed list.

French
menu
English, today
menu

Borrowed from French menu. a doublet of menudo and minute.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in In the Kitchen

Practise this word

menu in the wild

From a technical point of view, such a context menu is a graphical control element.
Context menu
In 1957, the "Whopper" became the first major addition to the menu, and it has since become Burger King's signature product.
Burger King
Some of these failures in the United States have seen success in foreign markets, where Burger King has also tailored its menu for regional tastes.
Burger King
In a restaurant, a menu is a list of food and beverage items available for customers to order.
Menu
Since the late 1990s, many restaurants have also made their menus available online.
Menu

1 / 5

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

Definitions of menu

1nounmenuThe list of dishes a restaurant offers.A2+

“The waiter handed us the menu and recommended the fish of the day.”

Said"Could we see the menu again? I've changed my mind about dessert."
WrittenThe menus were handwritten and different every day, which was the whole point of the place.
UsedRead the entire menu before you order; the specials are on the back.
ContrastA menu, not a bill. The menu comes first and tells you the price; the bill comes last and takes it. bill →
Not thisThe dishes themselves are not the menu. The menu is the list; the food is what arrives.

Patternon the menu · a set / lunch / children's menu · order from the menu · menu of the day

Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.

menu is a list.