gingerbread
noun
- broad category of baked goods flavoured with spices
- a soft loaf cake flavoured with spices
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈd͡ʒɪn.(d͡)ʒəˌbɹɛd/ / /ˈd͡ʒɪn.d͡ʒɚˌbɹɛd/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English gyngebred, gyngebrede, from Old French gingembras, gingimbrat (“preserved ginger”), from Medieval Latin *gingimbrātus (“gingered”, presumably referring to ginger that perhaps had a pharmaceutical use for some medicinal preparation), with the intrusive m added to gingiber, from Latin zingiber (“ginger”), of earlier Sanskrit origin, through Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis). The third syllable was earlier confounded with bread, and the insertion of an r in the second syllable completed the semblance of a compound word: ginger + bread.
- A type of cake whose main flavoring is ginger.
- Something ersatz; something showy but insubstantial.
- A flamboyant Victorian-era architectural style.
“For a time modern architects took a starkly functional approach to the design of houses, emphasizing clean, uncluttered lines and rejecting most forms of wall ornamentation as dust-catching gingerbread.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English gyngebred, gyngebrede, from Old French gingembras, gingimbrat (“preserved ginger”), from Medieval Latin *gingimbrātus (“gingered”, presumably referring to ginger that perhaps had a pharmaceutical use for some medicinal preparation), with the intrusive m added to gingiber, from Latin zingiber (“ginger”), of earlier Sanskrit origin, through Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis). The third syllable was earlier confounded with bread, and the insertion of an r in the second syllable completed the semblance of a compound word: ginger + bread.
- To decorate or embellish in an ornate or intricate way.