gâteau
noun
a cake, especially a very light sponge cake with a rich icing or filling.
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gâteau
American
[ga-toh, gah-, gah-toh]
/ gæˈtoʊ, gɑ-, gɑˈtoʊ /
noun
French Cooking.
plural
gâteaux
gateau
British
/ ˈɡætəʊ /
noun
Etymology
Origin of gâteau
1835–45; < French; Old French gastel (compare Middle English wastel < Old North French ) < Frankish *wastil, perhaps akin to Old English, Old Saxon wist food, nourishment
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For dessert, the VIPs were served a sweet beehive-shaped chocolate gâteau with a vanilla bean crémeux custard.
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026
Thankfully there has been no monkeying around with the formidably tall gâteau Basque, which is flavored with rum and served with a sparkling orange puddle of Cara Cara marmalade.
From New York Times • Apr. 12, 2022
With its fluted shell shape and rich, buttery flavor, the madeleine is the prototypical French gâteau de voyage, or "traveling cake."
From Salon • Oct. 20, 2021
When to go: There’s no bad time to visit, though some swear that spring takes the gâteau.
From Washington Post • Feb. 13, 2020
The derivation of the word, according to Douce's "Illustrations of Shakespeare," is from gasteau, now gâteau, anciently written gastel, and, in the Picard dialect, ouastel or watel, a cake.
From Chapters in the History of the Insane in the British Isles by Tuke, Daniel Hack
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
