cookie English · revision 10224

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1703|origins=nl koekje}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkʊki/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[bor|nl|koekje|t=little cake]], a diminutive of koek, cake, from Middle Dutch kōke (see [[cake]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) In Scotland, where it means a plain bun (1701 in Barnhart, 1730 in Etymonline), the history is uncertain;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the Scottish National Dictionary compares Dutch koekje but gives cook with the suffix -ie as the probable source.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A small flat sweet cake: 1703, in American English, in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster;^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline dates this sense by 1808.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline notes that Dutch influence also explains the parallel use in South African English.^(Etymonline) The slang application to a person, ''a smart cookie'', is from 1920,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) a bomb in Air Force slang from 1943,^(OED 1989) and the phrase ''that's the way the cookie crumbles'' from 1957.^(OED 1989) In computing, a piece of data that a website stores on a user's computer is a recent sense.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1701 – a bun (Scotland).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1703 – a small sweet cake (American).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1920 – a person (slang).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1943 – a bomb (RAF slang).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1957 – that's the way the cookie crumbles.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chiefly North America)'' A small, flat, usually crisp sweet cake; a [[biscuit]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Scotland)'' A plain [[bun]].^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A person of a particular kind: ''a smart cookie''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(computing)'' A small piece of data stored on a user's computer by a website, identifying the user.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cookie-cutter]]

+ * [[cookie press]]

+ * [[cookie sheet]]

+ * [[cookie jar]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cake]]

+ * [[cook]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Yorkshire dialect, a cookie was a child's pinafore.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}