Etymology

cake

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Today it means: A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar, and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing. Full definition →

Middle English cake ← Old Norse kaka ← Proto-Germanic *kakǭ
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic*kakǭ
  2. Old Norsekaka
  3. Middle Englishcake
  4. English todaycake

From Middle English cake, from Old Norse kaka (“cake”) (compare Norwegian kake, Icelandic/Swedish kaka, Danish kage), from Proto-Germanic *kakǭ, of disputed origin. Likely a distant cognate with kaak. Perhaps related to cookie, kuchen, and quiche. Doublet of coca (pastry).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.