madeleine

See also: Madeleine

English

WOTD – 6 May 2008

Two madeleines (small gateaux)

Wikipedia

Etymology

Borrowing from French madeleine, earlier gâteau à la Madeleine, of uncertain origin; attributed in some sources to a 19th-century pastry cook Madeleine Paulmier whose existence is now considered dubious. (Compare Oxford English Dictionary, Trésor de la Langue Française)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmadəlɪn/, /madˈlɛn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmædəlɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

madeleine ‎(plural madeleines)

1. A small gateau or sponge cake, often shaped like an elongated scallop shell.
   • 1981, CK Scott Moncrieff & Terence Kilmartin, translating Marcel Proust, Swann's Way, Folio Society 2005, p. 44:

     And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray [...] my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane.

   • 2003, Emily Luchetti, A Passion for Desserts, Chronicle Books 2003, p. 20:

     Madeleine batter can be made in advance and refrigerated.

2. Something which brings back a memory; a source of nostalgia or evocative memories (used with reference to its function in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time).
   • 2001, James Carroll, Constantine's Sword, Houghton-Mifflin 2001, p. 223:

     The Robe was thus fixed in my mind as a symbol, and in my memory as a madeleine, of Jewish evil.

   • 2005, Roger Ebert, Rogert Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2005, p. 784:

     Every five years or so, in the middle of another task, I'll look at them and a particular cover will bring memory flooding back like a madeleine.

Translations

small gateau

• Finnish: madeleine, madeleine-leivos
• French: madeleine (fr) f
• Korean: 마들렌 ‎(madeullen)

• Spanish: magdalena (es) f

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Finnish

Etymology

Borrowing from French madeleine.

Noun

madeleine

1. madeleine

Declension

Inflection of madeleine (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative		madeleine	madeleinet
genitive		madeleinen	madeleinejen
partitive		madeleinea	madeleineja
illative		madeleineen	madeleineihin
		singular	plural
nominative		madeleine	madeleinet
accusative	nom.	madeleine	madeleinet
	gen.	madeleinen
genitive		madeleinen	madeleinejen madeleineinrare
partitive		madeleinea	madeleineja
inessive		madeleinessa	madeleineissa
elative		madeleinesta	madeleineista
illative		madeleineen	madeleineihin
adessive		madeleinella	madeleineilla
ablative		madeleinelta	madeleineilta
allative		madeleinelle	madeleineille
essive		madeleinena	madeleineina
translative		madeleineksi	madeleineiksi
instructive		—	madeleinein
abessive		madeleinetta	madeleineitta
comitative		—	madeleineineen

Synonyms

• madeleine-leivos

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French

Etymology

See Magdalene.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /madlɛn/

Noun

madeleine f ‎(plural madeleines)

1. (cooking) madeleine

External links

• “madeleine” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).