madeleine

¹

[ mad-l-in, mad-l-eyn; French maduh-len ]

noun

, French Cooking.

, plural mad·e·leines [mad, -l-inz, mad-l-, eynz, m, a, d, uh, -, len].

1. a small shell-shaped cake made of flour, eggs, sugar, and butter and baked in a mold.
2. something that triggers memories or nostalgia: in allusion to a nostalgic passage in Proust's Remembrance of Things Past.

Madeleine

²

[ mad-l-in, -lahyn; French maduh-len ]

noun

1. a female given name, form of Magdalene.

madeleine

/ -ˌleɪn; ˈmædəlɪn /

noun

1. a small fancy sponge cake

Word History and Origins

Origin of madeleine¹

1835–45; < French, earlier gâteau à la Madeleine, after the female given name; the attribution of the recipe to an 18th-century cook named Madeleine Pau(l)mier is unsubstantiated

Word History and Origins

Origin of madeleine¹

C19: perhaps after Madeleine Paulmier, French pastry cook

Example Sentences

Pennsylvania Congresswoman Madeleine Dean remembers discussing Clinton’s candidacy with voters.

From BBC

Brückner has not been charged in the case of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal in 2007 and has never been found.

From BBC

Although he spent many years in the Algarve region of Portugal, Brückner moved back to Germany and was identified as a suspect by German investigators in the Madeleine McCann case in 2020.

From BBC

They have also questioned whether their client can get a fair trial after being publicly linked, by prosecutors, to the disappearance of Madeleine.

From BBC

Three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Algarve, Portugal, in 2007.

From BBC