biscuit

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbɪs.kɪt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bisquite, besquite,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French bescuit,^[4][3][5] from (pain) bescuit “twice-cooked bread”,^[2][3] from bes “twice” (Latin bis) and cuit “cooked”, the past participle of cuire “to cook”, from Latin coquere.^[3][5][6] Compare Medieval Latin biscoctum (“twice-baked”).^[4][6] The Old French form was altered under the influence of Old Italian biscotto,^[4] and the English spelling biscuit was reborrowed from French in the 19th century, replacing bisket.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A kind of crisp, dry, hard bread baked in thin flat cakes (1330).^[7][4] Barnhart dates the form besquite to before 1338.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Biscuits were originally baked twice so that they would keep, and were long a staple for sailors and soldiers.^[5][1] In Britain the word kept to crisp baked goods, crackers and cookies, while in America it was applied to a small soft bun or quick bread by 1818.^[3][4][2] From the colour, it named a light brown (1884),^[7] and from the twice-fired idea, pottery fired once but not yet glazed (1791).^[7][6][2]

Timeline

• 1330 – a crisp dry bread baked in flat cakes.^[7]
• 1791 – (pottery) ware fired once but not glazed.^[7]
• 1818 – (US) a small soft bread or bun.^[3][4]
• 16th century – spelled bisket.^[4][3]
• 19th century – the spelling biscuit reborrowed from French.^[3][4]
• 1884 – the light brown colour of biscuits.^[7]
• 1907 – to take the biscuit.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (chiefly UK) A small, flat, dry and crisp baked good; a cookie or cracker.
2. (US) A small soft cake of quick bread, leavened with baking powder or soda.
3. Earthenware or porcelain after the first firing and before glazing.
4. A pale brown or greyish yellow colour.

Word family

• biscuity
• biscuitlike
• biscuit ware
• dog biscuit
• sea biscuit

Related words

• biscotti
• cook
• bisque

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press