gingerbread

Alternative forms

• gingebred (Scottish)

Etymology

From Old French gingembras, gingimbrat, preserved ginger, from Medieval Latin *gingimbrātus (“gingered”, presumably referring to ginger that perhaps had a pharmaceutical use for some medicinal preparation), with intrusive m added to gingiber, from Latin zingiber (“ginger”), of earlier Sanskrit origin, through Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis). The third syllable was early confounded with bread, and the insertion of an r in the second syllable completed the semblance of a compound word.

Pronunciation

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Noun

gingerbread (countable and uncountable, plural gingerbreads)

1. (food) A type of cake whose main flavoring is ginger.
2. (figuratively, obsolete) Something ersatz; something showy but insubstantial.
3. (architecture) A flamboyant Victorian-era architectural style.