gingerbread

gingerbread
\ \ [13] The idea that gingerbread does not much resemble bread is entirely justified by the word’s history. For originally it was gingebras (a borrowing from Old French), and it meant ‘preserved ginger’. By the mid-14th century, by the process known as folk etymology (the substitution of a more for a less familiar form), -bread had begun to replace -bras, and it was only a matter of time (the early 15th century, apparently) before sense followed form.
\ \ The expression ‘take the gilt off the gingerbread’ (not recorded before the late 19th century) comes from the fact that formerly gingerbread was often decorated with gold leaf.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Gingerbread — is a sweet that can take the form of a cake or a cookie in which the predominant flavors are ginger and raw sugar.HistoryGingerbread was brought to Europe by the Crusaders.The first recorded mention of gingerbread being baked in the town dates… …   Wikipedia

  • Gingerbread — Gin ger*bread , n. A kind of plain sweet cake seasoned with ginger, and sometimes made in fanciful shapes. Gingerbread that was full fine. Chaucer. [1913 Webster] {Gingerbread tree} (Bot.), the doom palm; so called from the resemblance of its… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • gingerbread — ► NOUN ▪ cake made with treacle or syrup and flavoured with ginger. ● take the gilt off the gingerbread Cf. ↑take the gilt off the gingerbread …   English terms dictionary

  • gingerbread — ● gingerbread nom masculin (anglais gingerbread) Pain d épice anglais aromatisé au gingembre …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • gingerbread — late 13c., gingerbrar, from O.Fr. ginginbrat ginger preserve, from M.L. gingimbratus gingered, from gingiber (see GINGER (Cf. ginger)). The ending changed by folk etymology to brede bread, a formation attested by mid 14c. Originally preserved… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Gingerbread — a British organization which provides support and practical help for single parents and their children …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • gingerbread — [jin′jər bred΄] n. [ME ginge bred, altered (after bred, BREAD) < gingebras, preserved ginger, ginger pudding < OFr gingembraz < gingibre < ML gingiber, GINGER] 1. a) a cake flavored with ginger and molasses b) a kind of cookie cut… …   English World dictionary

  • gingerbread — [13] The idea that gingerbread does not much resemble bread is entirely justified by the word’s history. For originally it was gingebras (a borrowing from Old French), and it meant ‘preserved ginger’. By the mid 14th century, by the process known …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • gingerbread — noun Date: 15th century 1. a cake whose ingredients include molasses and ginger 2. [from the fancy shapes and gilding formerly often applied to gingerbread] lavish or superfluous ornament especially in architecture • gingerbread adjective •… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • gingerbread — gingerbready, adj. /jin jeuhr bred /, n. 1. a type of cake flavored with ginger and molasses. 2. a rolled cookie similarly flavored, often cut in fanciful shapes, and sometimes frosted. 3. elaborate, gaudy, or superfluous architectural… …   Universalium

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