• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / Where does the word “cake” come from and What does cake mean?

Where does the word “cake” come from and What does cake mean?

May 24, 2020 by Karen Hill

Outside of Scotland, the original sense of the word “cake” applied to something edible occurs chiefly in combination, as pancake, hoecake, fishcake.

That is, back in the days of Chaucer (and still among the Scots), a cake was distinguished from a loaf by its appearance and the manner of its baking.

The cake was flattened and, usually, small and round or oval in shape, was generally baked hard, ordinarily being turned over in the process. In Scotland, such cakes have long been made of oaten flour, and the predilection of the people for these oatcakes caused the country to be banteringly nicknamed the “land of Cakes.”

But English cooks began to experiment, adding other ingredients, such as sugar, spices, raisins, or the like, to their batter, and did not always bake it hard or turn it over while baking. In fact, except by its rounded and flattened shape, it did not greatly resemble the cake of old.

This modified and more tasty concoction is what we in America understand by the word today.

Related Facts

  • What Does the Expression "Have Your Cake and Eat it Too" Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?
  • Where does the expression "to take the cake" come from and What does it mean?
  • What does the expression "one's cake is dough" mean and Where does it come from?
  • What Does the Expression "That Takes the Cake" Mean and Where Did the Phrase Come From?
  • What Does the Expression "Piece of Cake" Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?
  • Where Did the Christmas Cake Tradition Come From and What Does Fruitcake On Christmas Symbolize?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Where does the word “cajole” come from and What does cajole mean?
Next Post: Where does the word “calculate” (abacus) come from and What does calculate mean? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy