Where does “cheesecake” come from?
Cheesecake is a compound of English cheese and English cake, where cake derives from Old Norse kaka, itself from Proto-Indo-European gog meaning to chew or consume.
cheesecake (English): A pie made of sweetened and flavoured cottage...
Definitions
- A pie made of sweetened and flavoured cottage...
Ancestry of “cheesecake”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | cake | A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of... |
| 2 | Middle English | cake | cake; A cake prepared to cure disease or illness;... |
| 3 | Old Norse | kaka | cake |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | kakǭ | cake |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | gōg- | round, ball-shaped object; lump; clump |
Words derived from “cheesecake”