Danish
Americanadjective
noun
-
a North Germanic language, the language of Denmark, closely related to Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic. Dan, Dan.
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(sometimes lowercase) Danish pastry.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Danish
First recorded before 900; Middle English, alteration of Denshe, Danshe, Dench (by influence of Dan “(a) Dane”), Old English Denisc , from Germanic daniskaz; see origin at Dane, -ish 1
Explanation
A danish is a sweet breakfast roll filled with custard, jam, or marzipan. If you're invited to brunch at a friend's house, she'll be happy to see you arrive with a box of danishes. If you order coffee and a danish at a diner, you'll get a flaky, buttery pastry topped with cheese or fruit — not a person from Denmark. The word is short for "danish pastry," which is actually called wienerbrød, or "Viennese bread" in Denmark. The popular history of the danish involves a strike by Danish bakery workers which led bakeries to hire Austrian bakers, who brought their own recipes for pastries rich with butter and egg.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Danish company said that Eli Lilly’s studies compare the highest injectable doses of its own medicines against lower doses of Novo Nordisk’s injectable medicines for obesity and type-2 diabetes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn is willfully and delightfully unpredictable: part showman, part provocateur.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Both say they are still waiting to hear back from the UK Foreign Office since the Laos statement last week and have relied on affected Danish and Australian families for information.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
The target of the Danish group's wrath is an advertising campaign that was "aired during recent, widely viewed global sporting broadcasts and on TikTok and Facebook, causing widespread confusion," it said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
The $3000 fellowship stipend that I had received for being in Copenhagen was three times that required to live like a well-off Danish student.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
