flanflan

The story

Borrowed around 1846 from French flan (‘cheesecake, custard tart, flan’), or in some uses (in reference to Spanish/Latin American flans) later from Spanish flan (itself from the French), both from Old French flaon (whence also Middle English flaon, flaun (‘pie; cake’)), from Late Latin fladō (‘flat cake’), from Frankish *flaþō (‘flat cake’), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (‘broad, flat’); compare German Fladen. Although the -n is generally believed to derive from the Late Latin accusative form (fladonem) of fladō (‘flat cake’), it might alternatively derive from an inflected form of the Frankish word (such as the Frankish accusative *flaþan, or the like).1disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. For a similar case, see garden.