custard

American  

[kuhs-terd] / ˈkʌs tərd /

noun

1. a dessert made of eggs, sugar, and milk, either baked, boiled, or frozen.

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custard British  

/ ˈkʌstəd /

noun

1. a baked sweetened mixture of eggs and milk

2. a sauce made of milk and sugar and thickened with cornflour

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Etymology

Origin of custard

1400–50; late Middle English, metathetic variant of earlier crustade kind of pie. See crust, -ade ¹; compare Provençal croustado

Compare meaning

How does custard compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• custard vs. ice cream

Example Sentences

The chorus is partially sung in German, while the verses reference traditional English desserts like "roly poly with custard".

From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026

Staff at the Hawthorne animal shelter named the pup Flan after the creamy baked custard dessert, due to his light brown coat, said a spcaLA representative on New Year’s Eve.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2025

The film’s repeated invocation of its own title in different contexts is another instance of adding too many eggs to the custard.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025

Dollops of apple butter melt into the warm custard during baking, creating pockets of spiced fruit that taste like fall condensed into a single slice.

From Salon • Dec. 18, 2025

The cakes were the very best part, full of custard and drizzled with caramel and honey.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova