madeleine

¹

[mad-l-in, mad-l-eyn, mad^uh-len]

noun

French Cooking.

plural

madeleines 

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

Also Made·laine,

[mad-l-in, -lahyn, mad^uh-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

Michael Duck KC said evidence showed Polish national Julia Wandelt, who has claimed to be missing Madeleine McCann since 2022, was "capable of being incredibly manipulative".

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A letter Mr Duck said was "co-authored" by the two defendants, signed by Miss Wandelt as Madeleine and hand delivered to the McCanns' address in December 2024, a day after they were told to stop trying to contact them, showed the pair's "torment" of the family "was not going to stop".

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When he suggested Miss Wandelt's supposed childhood memories as Madeleine McCann were "a manifestation" and details came from the McCann's home videos which were published online, Miss Wandelt became emotional and left the dock in tears.

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He also highlighted a shift from signing messages as Madeleine and calling Mrs McCann "mommy" to Mrs Spragg messaging Mrs McCann to say Miss Wandelt only "believes she may be" the missing girl.

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"Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann, and the only people who are not prepared to accept that are the two sat in the dock."

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