Despite its Italian look, lagniappe is actually a modified form of a Louisiana French creole term that derives from the New-World Spanish la ñapa, a gift, which in turn has its origin in a Quechua word yapa for a gift or tip.Click to see full answer. Then, what does Lagniappe mean in French?Definition of lagniappe. : a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase broadly : something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure The waiter added a cup of lobster bisque as a lagniappe to the meal.One may also ask, how do you use Lagniappe in a sentence? ? As a lagniappe, the department store offered free popcorn and drinks to all its customers. When purchasing a ring for his girlfriend, the buyer was given a small lagniappe as a token of the jeweler’s appreciation. Considering this, how do you pronounce the word Lagniappe? We picked up one excellent word—a word worth travelling to New Orleans to get; a nice limber, expressive, handy word—”lagniappe.” They pronounce it lanny-yap. It is Spanish—so they said.What is La Ñapa?LA ÑAPA. In Dominican Spanish la ñapa refers to “the little extra” added on at the end.