Etymograph

English

cake

Cake comes from Middle English cake, from Old Norse kaka, from Proto-Germanic *kakǭ, whose origin is disputed.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kakǭ‘cake’reconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350kaka‘cake’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cake
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1697same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kakǭ‘cake’reconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350kaka‘cake’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cake
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1697same form

Earliest quotation: 1697, Virgil, The First Book of the Georgics: “Cakes of rustling ice come rolling down the flood.”

The story

From Middle English cake, from Old Norse kaka (‘cake’) (compare Norwegian kake, Icelandic/Swedish kaka, Danish kage), from Proto-Germanic *kakǭ, of disputed origin.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. Perhaps related to cookie, kuchen, and quiche.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gag-

cookie, 4 more

Today it means

noun A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar, and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *kakǭ / cake

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