gingerbread

Meaning

Noun

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

Verb

To decorate or embellish in an ornate or intricate way.

Synonyms

ginger nut

gingersnap

money

💸

ginger bread

ginger snap

honey-cake

spice cake

ginger cake

gingersnap

Translations

Lebkuchen

pain d’épice

Pfefferkuchen

pain d’épices

pain d'épices

peperkoek

Pfeffferkuchen

pain d'épice

pão de mel

Printe

gingembre

μελόπιτα

Honigkuchen

απογυμνώνω

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈd͡ʒɪn.(d͡)ʒəˌbɹɛd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: gyngebred

In summary

From Middle English gyngebred, gyngebrede, 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 the intrusive m added to gingiber, from Latin zingiber (“ginger”), of earlier Sanskrit origin, through Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis). The third syllable was earlier confounded with bread, and the insertion of an r in the second syllable completed the semblance of a compound word: ginger + bread.