custard

American  

[kuhs-terd] / ˈkʌs tərd /

noun

1. a dessert made of eggs, sugar, and milk, either baked, boiled, or frozen.

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custard British  

/ ˈkʌstəd /

noun

1. a baked sweetened mixture of eggs and milk

2. a sauce made of milk and sugar and thickened with cornflour

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Etymology

Origin of custard

1400–50; late Middle English, metathetic variant of earlier crustade kind of pie. See crust, -ade ¹; compare Provençal croustado

Compare meaning

How does custard compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• custard vs. ice cream

Example Sentences

Further along the table, a three-tiered honey cake sits near a wholemeal plum cake with spiced icing, while a Swedish princess cake draws gasps of admiration with its dome of sponge, jam, custard and marzipan.

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

Dollops of apple butter melt into the warm custard during baking, creating pockets of spiced fruit that taste like fall condensed into a single slice.

From Salon • Dec. 18, 2025

"I want to demonstrate that I can make serious points by flinging a custard pie around the stage for a couple of hours," the Czech-born Stoppard said in a 1970s interview.

From Barron's • Nov. 29, 2025

Aka the Large “Fresser” Toasted Pecan Pie on the Zingerman’s website, it’s an irresistible delivery system for big, beautiful pecans and brown-sugar custard, with a crust that holds up for days.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 15, 2025

The best cooks on Palmas Street offered Celia coconut custard, guayaba and cheese tortes, bread pudding, and pineapple cakes.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García