madeleine

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

noun,plural mad·e·leines

[mad-l-inz, mad-l-eynz; French maduh-len]. /ˈmæd l ɪnz, ˌmæd lˈeɪnz; French madəˈlɛn/. French Cooking.

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

Origin of madeleine

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

Words Nearby madeleine

Other definitions for Madeleine (2 of 2)

Madeleine

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

noun

a female given name, form of Magdalene.

Also Mad·e·laine, Mad·e·lene [mad-l-in], /ˈmæd l ɪn/, Mad·e·line, Mad·e·lyn.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use madeleine in a sentence

Early in her career, she and designer madeleine Vionnet sued a woman in Paris for copying some 20,000 sketches of their designs.
The Big Business of Fashion Counterfeits | Lizzie Crocker | December 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Normally I might look to Samantha Power or madeleine Albright or Hillary Clinton for foreign policy wisdom.
What Iran Can Learn From Gwyneth Paltrow | Nina Ansary | October 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Despite the fact that her husband had left France four years earlier, madeleine had recently given birth to a healthy baby boy.
The Strange Science Behind Virgin Births | Candida Moss | January 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
As our car sped along the Boulevard de la madeleine, I was filled with hope and excitement.
The Model Diaries: The Rush of Rejection in Paris | Anonymous | December 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Several people at the resort had seen a man carrying a small bundled child on the night madeleine disappeared.
Investigation Into Madeleine McCann Disappearance Reopened in Portugal | Barbie Latza Nadeau | October 24, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

I have looked in,” said Aristide, with his ingratiating smile, “to see whether you are ready to go to the madeleine.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. Locke
In 1840 he did some work on an unfinished house in the suburbs of the madeleine, purchased by the Thuilliers.
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z | Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
Daphne was still erect, self-confident, militant; whereas madeleine knew herself vanquished—vanquished both in body and soul.
Marriage la mode | Mrs. Humphry Ward
madeleine turned her face towards the gorge, her wasted hands clasped on her breast.
Marriage la mode | Mrs. Humphry Ward
The flower markets which always made Paris so attractive have vanished, even the famous flower market in front of the madeleine.
Ways of War and Peace | Delia Austrian

British Dictionary definitions for madeleine

madeleine

/ (ˈmædəlɪn, -ˌleɪn) /

noun

a small fancy sponge cake

Origin of madeleine

C19: perhaps after Madeleine Paulmier, French pastry cook

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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