cake

English

A slice of cake (1), specifically a slice of a torte.

A layer cake from which a slice has been removed.

Etymology 1

From Middle English cake, from Old Norse kaka (“cake”) (compare Norwegian kake, Icelandic/Swedish kaka, Danish kage), from Proto-Germanic *kakǭ (“cake”), from Proto-Indo-European *gog- (“ball-shaped object”) (compare Northern Kurdish gog (“ball”); Romanian gogoașă (“doughnut”) and gogă (“walnut, nut”); Lithuanian gúoge (“head of cabbage”)). Related to cookie, kuchen, and quiche. Doublet of coca.

Pronunciation

enPR: kāk, IPA^(key): /keɪk/, [kʰeɪk]
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -eɪk

Noun

cake (countable and uncountable, plural cakes)

A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar, and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing.
Synonym: gateau
A small mass of baked dough, especially a thin loaf from unleavened dough.
an oatmeal cake
a johnnycake
A thin wafer-shaped mass of fried batter; a griddlecake or pancake.
buckwheat cakes
A block of any of various dense materials.
Synonym: block
a cake of soap
a cake of sand
- 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:
  Cakes of rustling ice come rolling down the flood.
(slang) A trivially easy task or responsibility; from a piece of cake.
Synonyms: piece of cake; see also Thesaurus:easy thing
(slang) Money.
Used to describe the doctrine of having one's cake and eating it too.
- 2018, The Guardian, "UK's aspirations for post-Brexit trade deal an illusion, says Donald Tusk", Daniel Boffey, Peter Walker, Jennifer Rankin, and Heather Stewart, 23 February 2018
  "It looks like the cake [and eat it] philosophy is still alive." Quote attributed to Donald Tusk.
(slang) A buttock, especially one that is exceptionally plump.
Mmm, I'd like to cut me some of that cake!
(pyrotechnics) A multi-shot fireworks assembly comprising several tubes, each with a fireworks effect, lit by a single fuse.

Usage notes

In North America, a biscuit is a small, soft baked bread similar to a scone but not sweet. In some cases, it can be hard (see dog biscuit). In the United Kingdom, a biscuit is a small, crisp or firm, sweet baked good — the sort of thing which in North America is called a cookie. (Less frequently, British speakers refer to crackers as biscuits.) In North America, even small, layered baked sweets like Oreos are referred to as cookies, while in the UK, typically only those biscuits which have chocolate chips, nuts, fruit, or other things baked into them are also called cookies.
Throughout the English-speaking world, thin, crispy, salty or savoury baked breads like in this image (saltine crackers) are called crackers, while thin, crispy, sweet baked goods like in this image (Nilla Wafers) and this image (wafer sticks) are wafers.
Both the US and the UK distinguish crackers, wafers and cookies/biscuits from cakes: the former are generally hard or crisp and become soft when stale, while the latter is generally soft or moist and becomes hard when stale.

Derived terms

7 Up cake
ague-cake
angel cake
angel food cake
apple cake
applesauce cake
ash cake
ashcake
ash-cake
baked in the cake
Banbury cake
barm cake
bastable cake
Battenberg cake
batter-cake
battercake
beancake, bean-cake, bean cake
beefcake
birthday cake
black cake
Black Forest cake
Black Joe cake
blackout cake
bread cake
bridecake
bubble cake
buckwheat cake
bundt cake
butterfly cake
cake and wine
cake ball
cake bar
cake boy
cake-bread
cake crumbs
cake-eater
cake fork
cake-fumbler
cakehole
cake-house
cakelet
cake-meal
cake mix
cake number
cake plate
cake pop
cake-pop
cake saffron
cakes and ale
cakes and cheese
cake server
cake shop
cake-slice
cake slice
cake smash
cake tin
cake urchin
cake-urchin
cakewalk
cake walk
cake-walk
cakewalker
cakewards
caking
caky
carcake
carrot cake
cattle cake
cattle-cake
cheesecake
cherry cake
cherry on the cake
chiffon cake
chocolate cake
chocolate fudge cake
chocolate sponge cake
Chorley cake
Christmas cake
ciba cake
clam cake
coffee and cake
coffee cake
coffeecake
corn-cake
cotton-cake
crab cake
crazy cake
cream cake
crum cake
cupcake
cut cake
dead cake
Depression cake
desert fruit cake
devil's food cake
diaper cake
dirt cake
Doberge cake
Dolly Varden cake
donut cake
dripping cake
drop-cake
drop cake
dumb cake
dump cake
Dundee cake
easy as cake
eat one's cake and have it too
Eccles cake
every cake has its fellow
every cake has its make
every cake has its mate
fair cake-cutting
fairy cake
filter cake
fish-cake
fish cake
fishcake
flannel cake
friedcake
fruitcake
fruit cake
fruit-cake
fudge cake
funnel cake
Genoa cake
German chocolate cake
go like hot cakes
gooey butter cake
grater cake
green tea cake
griddle-cake
griddle cake
guess cake
gur cake
have one's cake and eat it
have one's cake and eat it too
haver-cake
heart-cake
heavy cake
hevva cake
hoecake
hot cake
icebox cake
icing on the cake
Jaffa cake
jelly cake
johnny cake
Johnny cake
journey-cake
Kendal mint cake
Kiev cake
King Alfred's cake (Daldinia concentrica)
king cake
king's cake
kings' cake
kitchen cake
knead-cake
kokosh cake
Lady Baltimore cake
Land of Cakes
Lane cake
lardy cake
lava cake
layer cake
layer-cake
layer cake federalism
linseed cake
Madeira cake
maids of honour cake
mangia cake
mangia-cake
marble cake
marble cake federalism
matrimonial cake
molten lava cake
moon-cake
moon cake
mothering-cake
mud cake
mug cake
national cake
nutcake
nutty as a fruit cake
oatcake
oatmeal cake
oilcake
oil cake
oilseed cake
one's cake is dough
opera cake
Pan-Cake
pancake
parliament-cake
parliament cake
pat-a-cake
patty-cake
patty cake
pea cake
pea-cake
piece of cake
pinch cake
pineapple cake
plum-cake
pomfret-cake
pomfret cake
Pontefract cake
poor man's cake
pop out cake
potato cake
pound cake
press cake
princess cake
prize cake
queen cake
queen-cake
queen's cake
radish cake
raindrop cake
rape-cake
rat cake
red velvet cake
rice cake
ring-cake
rock cake
rose-cake
rout cake
rout-cake
rum cake
saffron cake
salt-cake
salt cake
sandwich cake
scripture cake
seblet cake
seed cake
seedcake
seed-cake
sell like hot cakes
seven-layer cake
Shawnee cake
shear-cake
sheath cake
sheet cake
shortcake
Shrewsbury cake
Shrove-cake
simnel cake
singing cake
slab cake
slice of the cake
smash cake
Smith Island cake
soul cake
soul-cake
space cake
spice-cake
spit cake
sponge cake
stottie cake
stotty cake
stripper cake
suet cake
sugee cake
sweetheart cake
take the cake
taro cake
tattie cake
tatty cake
teacake
tharf-cake
the cake is a lie
three kings' cake
three-milk cake
tipsy cake
tough-cake
Tunis cake
turnip cake
Twelfth-cake
Twelfth cake
twelfth day cake
Twelfth-night cake
upside-down cake
urinal cake
Victorian sponge cake
wacky cake
war cake
wedding-cake
wedding cake
Welsh cake
wine cake
yam cake
yellow cake
yellowcake
Yule cake
zebra cake

Descendants

→ Assamese: কে’ক (këk)
→ Cebuano: keyk
→ Dutch: kaak (spelling pronunciation), cake (also keek, older also kaaks, keeks)
→ Fiji Hindi: kek
→ French: cake
→ Gulf Arabic: كيك‎ (kēk)
→ Hijazi Arabic: كيكة‎ (kēka)
→ Japanese: ケーキ (kēki)
→ Korean: 케이크 (keikeu)
→ Nauruan: keik
→ Portuguese: queque
→ Russian: кек (kek)
→ Spanish: queque
→ Swahili: keki
→ Tagalog: keyk
→ Yoruba: kéèkì
→ Zulu: ikhekhe

From the plural cakes:

→ Danish: kiks (older also keks)
- → Faroese: keks
- → Icelandic: kex[1]
→ German: Keks
- → Belarusian: кекс (kjeks)
- → Polish: keks
  - → Kashubian: keks
  - → Vilamovian: kēks
- → Russian: кекс (keks)
- → Ukrainian: кекс (keks)
- → Macedonian: кекс (keks)
- → Serbo-Croatian: kȅks, ке̏кс
- → Hungarian: keksz
→ Norwegian:
Bokmål: kjeks
Nynorsk: kjeks
→ Swedish: kex
- → Finnish: keksi

Translations

type of sweet dessert

Abkhaz: аторт (atʼortʼ)
Adyghe: торт (toort)
Afrikaans: koek (af)
Albanian: tortë (sq) f, kek
Amharic: ኬከ (kekä)
Apache:
Western Apache: báń łikane
Arabic: كَعْكَة‎ f (kaʕka)
Egyptian Arabic: جتوه‎ m pl (gatō), كيكة‎ f (kēka)
Gulf Arabic: كيك‎ m (kēk) (collective), كيكة‎ f (kēka) (singulative)
Hijazi Arabic: كيكة‎ f (kēka), كيك‎ m pl (kēk)
Aragonese: cocca f
Armenian: տորթ (hy) (tortʿ)
Aromanian: keadin
Assamese: পিঠা (pitha), কে’ক (këk)
Asturian: pastel m
Azerbaijani: tort (az), keks
Bashkir: торт (tort)
Basque: pastela
Belarusian: торт m (tort) (large), піро́жнае n (piróžnaje) (small)
Bengali: পিঠা (piṭha)
Breton: gwastell (br) f
Bulgarian: то́рта f (tórta)
Burmese: ကိတ်မုန့် (my) (kitmun.)
Catalan: pastís (ca) m
Cebuano: keyk
Chechen: мерза хьокхум (merza ḥʳoqum)
Cherokee: ᎦᏚ ᎤᎦᎾᏍᏓ (gadu uganasda)
Cheyenne: vé'keahonoo'o
Chinese:
Cantonese: 蛋糕 (daan⁶ gou¹)
Mandarin: 蛋糕 (zh) (dàngāo)
Min Nan: 雞卵糕／鸡卵糕 (zh-min-nan), 鸡卵糕 (ke-nn̄g-ko/kue-nn̄g-ko)
Classical Nahuatl: tlaxcalli
Corsican: pastadolce
Czech: dort (cs) m
Danish: kage (da) c, lagkage
Dongxiang: dangao
Dutch: taart (nl) f (more elaborate, with cream or fruit), cake (nl) m (more sober), gebak (nl) n, koek (nl) m
Esperanto: kuko (eo)
Estonian: kook (et)
Faroese: køka f, kaka f
Fijian: keke
Finnish: kakku (fi)
French: gâteau (fr) m (large cake served in slices, or a small, individual cake), pâtisserie (fr) f (small, individual cake)
Friulian: torte, colaç m
Galician: pastel m
Georgian: ტორტი (ṭorṭi), ნამცხვარი (namcxvari)
German: Kuchen (de) m, Torte (de) f
Alemannic German: Chueche m
Greek: τούρτα (el) f (toúrta), κέικ (el) n (kéik)
Ancient: πέμμα (pémma)
Guaraní: mbujape he'ẽ
Gujarati: કેક f (kek)
Hebrew: עוּגָה‎ (he) f (uga)
Hindi: केक (hi) f (kek)
Hungarian: torta (hu), sütemény (hu), tészta (hu)
Icelandic: kaka (is) f
Ido: kuko (io)
Indonesian: kue (id)
Interlingua: torta
Irish: císte m, cáca milis m
Italian: torta (it) f (large cake served in slices), pasticcino (it) m (small, individual cake), dolce (it) m
Japanese: ケーキ (ja) (kēki)
Kannada: ಕೇಕ್ (kēk)
Kazakh: торт (kk) (tort), тәтті нан (tättı nan)
Khmer: នំបារាំង (num baarang), នំ (km) (num)
Korean: 과자(菓子) (ko) (gwaja), 케이크 (ko) (keikeu), 케잌 (keik) (North Korea)
Kyrgyz: торт (ky) (tort), пирожное (pirojnoye)
Lao: ເຄັກ (khek), ຂະໜົມເຄັກ (kha nom khek)
Latin: placenta f, lībum n, mustāceus m (wedding)
Latvian: kūka (lv) f, torte f
Lithuanian: pyragaitis m, pyragas m, tortas m
Luhya: ekeki
Luxembourgish: Kuch (lb) m
Macedonian: торта f (torta), колач m (kolač)
Malagasy: mofomamy (mg)
Malay: kek (ms)
Malayalam: കേക്ക് (ml) (kēkkŭ)
Maltese: kejk m
Maori: keke
Mapudungun: kochü kofke
Marathi: केक (mr) m (kek)
Mirandese: bolho m
Mongolian: бялуу (mn) (bjaluu)
Nauruan: keik (na)
Navajo: bááh łikaní, masdéél, basdéél
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kake (no) m
Occitan: còca (oc) f
Old Norse: kaka
Old Prussian: lugis
Pashto: کېک‎ (cake)
Persian: کیک‎ (fa) (keyk), کوکه‎ (kuke) (archaic)
Polish: ciasto (pl) n, ciastko (pl) n, tort (pl) m, ciasteczko (pl) n
Portuguese: bolo (pt) m
Punjabi: ਕੇਕ m (kek)
Quechua: peqachu
Rajasthani: please add this translation if you can
Romanian: tort (ro), prăjitură (ro) f, turtă (ro) f
Romansch: petta f (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader), peta f (Sutsilvan), turta f (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), tuorta f (Sursilvan, Puter, Vallader)
Russian: торт (ru) m (tort) (large cake served in slices), пиро́жное (ru) n (piróžnoje) (small, individual cake), кекс (ru) m (keks)
Rusyn: торта f (torta), бухта f (buxta), колач (kolač)
Scottish Gaelic: breacag f, aran milis m, bonnach m, bannag f, cèic f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: колач m
Roman: kolač (sh) m
Sinhalese: කේක් (si) (kēk)
Slovak: torta f, koláč (sk) m
Slovene: torta f, koláč (sl) m
Spanish: bizcocho (es) m (, birthday or wedding cake, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico), cake (es) m (Cuba, Panama), pastel (es) m (Northeastern Spain, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras), ponqué (es) m (Colombia), pudín m (Colombian Atlantic Coast), queque (es) m (Costa Rica, Nicaragua - in Chile: an unlayered cake), tarta (es) f (Spain standard usage), torta (es) f (Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela - in Chile: a layer cake)
Swahili: keki (sw)
Swedish: tårta (sv) c, kaka (sv) c
Tagalog: keyk
Tajik: кекс (tg) (keks), торт (tg) (tort), пирожное (pirožnoye), пирожнӣ (pirožnī)
Tamil: கேக் (kēk)
Taos: kèke’éna
Tatar: кекс (keks), торт (tort)
Telugu: కేక్ (te) (kēk)
Thai: เค้ก (th) (kéek)
Turkish: kek (tr)
Turkmen: tort, pirog
Ukrainian: торт m (tort) (large), ті́стечко n (tístečko) (small), кекс m (keks), пиро́жне n (pyróžne)
Urdu: کیک‎ f (kēk)
Uyghur: تورت‎ (tort)
Uzbek: tort (uz), kunjara (uz), keks (uz), pirojniy (uz)
Vietnamese: bánh (vi), bánh ga tô
Volapük: kek (vo)
Walloon: wastea (wa)
Welsh: teisen (cy) f, cacen (cy)
Yiddish: קוכן‎ m (kukhn)

small mass of baked dough

Finnish: keksi (fi)
Irish: cáca m
Maori: keke
Slovak: koláč (sk)
Swedish: kaka (sv) c

thin wafer-shaped mass of fried batter

Finnish: pannukakku (fi), lätty (fi) (soft); keksi (fi) (solid)
Irish: cáca m
Russian: блин (ru) m (blin), лепёшка (ru) f (lepjóška)
Slovak: palacinka

block of dense material

Bulgarian: калъп (bg) m (kalǎp)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 塊狀物／块状物 (kuài zhuàng wù)
Czech: deska (cs) f, blok (cs) m
Danish: stykke (da)
Dutch: stuk (nl) n, blok (nl) m
Esperanto: briko
Finnish: kakku (fi), kimpale (fi), pala (fi)
German: Stück (de) n
Hungarian: darab (hu), tábla (hu)
Icelandic: stykki n
Irish: bloc m
Manx: block m
Maori: pēpē
Norwegian: stykke (no) m
Portuguese: (of soap) sabonete (pt) m
Romanian: bucată (ro) f
Russian: пли́тка (ru) f (plítka) (rectangular), лепёшка (ru) f (lepjóška) (flat and round), кусо́к (ru) m (kusók) (of soap)
Slovak: blok
Swedish: kaka (sv)

trivially easy task or responsibility — see piece of cake

slang: money — See also translations at money

Finnish: hillo (fi)

used to describe the doctrine of having one's cake and eating it too

Finnish: kakku (fi)

slang: buttock, especially a plump one

Finnish: kankku (fi)

multi-shot fireworks assembly

French: batterie d'artifice f, batterie de feu d'artifice f
German: Feuerwerksbatterie f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Breton: ^{(please verify)} gwastell (br) f, ^{(please verify)} gwastelloù pl, ^{(please verify)} gwestell (br) pl
Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} עוגה‎ (he) f (uga)
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} kue tart

Verb

cake (third-person singular simple present cakes, present participle caking, simple past and past participle caked)

(transitive) Coat (something) with a crust of solid material.
Synonyms: crust, encrust
His shoes are caked with mud.
(transitive) To form into a cake, or mass.
(intransitive) Of blood or other liquid, to dry out and become hard.
- 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:
  Once we fell asleep, and, I think, must have slept for some hours, for, when we woke, our limbs were quite stiff, and the blood from our blows and scratches had caked, and was hard and dry upon our skin.

Derived terms

anticaking

Translations

to coat with a crust

Bulgarian: спичам се (spičam se), втвърдявам се (vtvǎrdjavam se)
Dutch: bedekken (nl), vastkoeken (nl)
Finnish: kuorruttaa (fi)
German: verkrusten (de)
Hungarian: rászárad, bevon (hu)
Macedonian: закоравен m (zakoraven)
Spanish: incrustar (es)

to form into a cake or mass

Finnish: paakkuuntua (fi) (intransitive), paakkuunnuttaa (transitive)
Hungarian: megkövül (hu), megkeményedik (hu), összeáll (hu), megszárad (hu), megalvad (hu)

Verb

cake (third-person singular simple present cakes, present participle caking, simple past and past participle caked)

(UK, dialect, obsolete, intransitive) To cackle like a goose.

Translations

to cackle like a goose — see cackle

References

Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon — Íslensk orðsifjabók, 1st edition, 2nd printing (1989). Reykjavík, Orðabók Háskólans, page 458. (Available on Málið.is under the “Eldra mál” tab.)

Anagrams

akçe

Ambonese Malay

Etymology

Unknown.

Verb

cake

(angry register) to eat
Kalu ale su cake jang bicara lai! ― Do not speak when you're eating!
Synonym: makang

References

D. Takaria, C. Pieter (1998) Kamus Bahasa Melayu Ambon-Indonesia‎, Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English cake.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /keːk/
Audio (file)
Hyphenation: cake
Rhymes: -eːk

Noun

cake m (plural cakes, diminutive cakeje n)

pound cake

Derived terms

arretjescake
boerencake
cakeblik
cakevorm

Related terms

cupcake

Fijian

Adverb

cake

up

French

Un cake au jambon.

Etymology

Borrowed from English cake.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kɛk/
Audio (file)

Noun

cake m (plural cakes)

fruitcake (containing rum)
quick bread (a smallish loaf-shaped baked good which may be sweet like an English cake or salty and with bits of meat. See insert)

Derived terms

tronche de cake

Middle English

Alternative forms

kake, caake, cayk

Etymology

From Old Norse kaka, from Proto-Germanic *kakǭ.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkaːk(ə)/

Noun

cake (plural cakes)

A cake (any sort of flat doughy food):
1. (medicine) A cake prepared to cure disease or illness.
2. (Christianity, rare) A communion wafer.
(rare) A lump, boil, or ball.

Derived terms

pancake

Descendants

English: cake (see there for further descendants)
Scots: cake
Yola: caake, kaake

References

“cāke, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-05.

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English cake, from Middle English cake, from Old Norse kaka.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkeik/ [ˈkei̯k]
Rhymes: -eik

Noun

cake m (plural cakes)

cake; fruitcake

Tocharian B

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ték(ʷ)os.

Noun

cake ?

river

References

Adams, Douglas Q. (2013) A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN

[1] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon — Íslensk orðsifjabók, 1st edition, 2nd printing (1989). Reykjavík, Orðabók Háskólans, page 458. (Available on Málið.is under the “Eldra mál” tab.)

cake

English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Usage notes

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

Verb

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

Translations

Further reading

References

Anagrams

Ambonese Malay

Etymology

Verb

References

Dutch

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Related terms

Fijian

Adverb

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Further reading

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

References

Spanish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Tocharian B

Etymology

Noun

References