Cockaigne

or Cock·ayne

[ ko-keyn ]

/ kɒˈkeɪn /

noun

a fabled land of luxury and idleness.

RELATED WORDS

Origin of Cockaigne

1250–1300; Middle English cokaygn(e) < Middle French (paide) cocaigne (land of) Cockaigne, idler's paradise < Middle Low German kōkenje, equivalent to kōken (see cookie) + -je diminutive suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cockaigne

An old French poem on the Land of Cockaigne described it as an ideal land of luxury and ease.
Early Reviews of English Poets|John Louis Haney
Never comes the trader thither, never o'er the purple main Sounds the oath of British commerce, or the accents of Cockaigne.
The Book of Humorous Verse|Various
Hence our own word of "Cockaigne," about the derivation of which so many contradictory guesses have been made.
Odd Bits of History|Henry W. Wolff
It is, says Dixon, the common English broadsheet "turned into the dialect of Cockaigne."
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Volume I of 5)|Various

His kingdom was the “Land of Cockaigne,” a borrowing, most probably, from the thirteenth century satire by that name.
Leigh Hunt's Relations with Byron, Shelley and Keats|Barnette Miller

British Dictionary definitions for cockaigne

Cockaigne

Cockayne

/ (kɒˈkeɪn) /

noun

medieval legend an imaginary land of luxury and idleness

Word Origin for Cockaigne

C14: from Old French cocaigne, from Middle Low German kōkenje small cake (of which the houses in the imaginary land are built); related to Spanish cucaña, Italian cuccagna

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

Word Origin and History for cockaigne

Cockaigne

c.1300, from Old French Cocaigne (12c.) "lubberland," imaginary country, abode of luxury and idleness. Of obscure origin, speculation centers on words related to cook (v.) and cake (cf. Middle Dutch kokenje, a child's honey-sweetened treat; also cf. Big Rock Candy Mountain). The German equivalent is Schlaraffenland.