Cockaigne

or Cock·ayne

[ ko-keyn ]

noun

1. a fabled land of luxury and idleness.

Cockaigne

/ kɒˈkeɪn /

noun

1. medieval legend an imaginary land of luxury and idleness

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cockaigne¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cockaigne¹

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

Example Sentences

Never comes the trader thither, never o'er the purple main Sounds the oath of British commerce, or the accents of Cockaigne.

From Project Gutenberg

It is a superb land, a country of Cockaigne, as they say, that I dream of visiting with an old friend.

From Project Gutenberg

An old French poem on the Land of Cockaigne described it as an ideal land of luxury and ease.

From Project Gutenberg

There is a wonderful country, a country of Cockaigne, they say, which I dreamed of visiting with an old friend.

From Project Gutenberg

It is, says Dixon, the common English broadsheet "turned into the dialect of Cockaigne."

From Project Gutenberg