Dictionary

madeleine en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˌmædəˈleɪn/ (General-American)
• /ˈmad(ə)lɪn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈmædələn/ (General-American)
• /ˈmad(ə)lɛn/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French madeleine, from earlier gâteau à la Madeleine, after the given name Madeleine (“Magdalene”), of uncertain reference: attributed in some sources to a 19th-century pastry cook Madeleine Paulmier, whose existence is now considered dubious. In sense 2, used with reference to the cake's function in the extract below, taken from Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time.

Meanings

1. A French type of small gateau or sponge cake, often shaped like an elongated scallop shell.
   • And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray […] my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane. 1981, C. K. Scott Moncrieff, Terence Kilmartin, transl., Swann's Way (In Search of Lost Time), Folio Society, translation of original by Marcel Proust, published 2005, page 44:
   • Madeleine batter can be made in advance and refrigerated. 2003, Emily Luchetti, A Passion for Desserts, Chronicle Books, page 20:
2. (figuratively) Something which brings back a memory; a source of nostalgia or evocative memories.
   • The Robe was thus fixed in my mind as a symbol, and in my memory as a madeleine, of Jewish evil. 2001, James Carroll, Constantine's Sword, Houghton-Mifflin, page 223:
   • My madeleine moment happened early on Friday, while pot smoke drifted in the air as I waited for a shuttle to the polo fields where Coachella takes place. 2022 April 27, Spencer Kornhaber, “Coachella Defeated My Cynicism About Music Festivals”, in The Atlantic:
   • Every five years or so, in the middle of another task, I'll look at them and a particular cover will bring memory flooding back like a madeleine. 2005, Roger Ebert, Rogert Ebert's Movie Yearbook, page 784:

Forms

Translations (38)

vi mađơlen (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · fi madeleine (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · pl magdalenka (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · af madeleine (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · hy մադլեն (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · mg madelenina (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · cmn 瑪德蓮蛋糕 /玛德莲蛋糕 (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · sv madeleinekaka (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · he מָדְלֶן (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · it madeleine (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · hu madeleine (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · ru мадле́н (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · pt madeleine (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · ca magdalena (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · fa کیک مادلن (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · gl magdalena (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · he עוּגִיַּת מָדְלֶן (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · el μανταλένα (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · it maddalena (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · tr madlen (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · io madeleno (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · fi madeleine-leivos (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · eu madalena (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · eo konkoforma kuketo (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · de Madeleine (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · es magdalena (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · pt madalena (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · ast madalena (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · fr madeleine (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · ko 마들렌 (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · ja マドレーヌ (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · eo kuketo (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · cs madlenka (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · et madeleine (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · vi bánh mađơlen (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · an madalena (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · fa مادلن (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell) · no madeleinekake (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell)

wikipedia: Marcel Proust · wikipedia: In Search of Lost Time · wikipedia: fr:Madeleine Paulmier