wastel
English
Etymology
From Middle English wastel, from Old French wastel, gastel (> French gâteau), from Late Latin wastellum, from Frankish *wastil, perhaps from Proto-Germanic *wistiz (“sustenance, food”), from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to be”). Cognate with Middle High German wastel (“a kind of bread”). Compare Old High German wist (“food”) and Old English wist (“food”). Doublet of gateau.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈwɒstəl/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈwɑstəl/
Noun
wastel (countable and uncountable, plural wastels)
- (now historical) A kind of fine white bread or cake.
- 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:
- the simnel bread and wastel cakes, which were only used at the tables of the highest nobility
Synonyms
References
- “wastel”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Middle English
Etymology
From Old French wastel, gastel (> French gâteau), from Late Latin wastellum, from Frankish *wastil, perhaps from Proto-Germanic *wistiz (“sustenance, food”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to dwell, stay”). Cognate with Middle High German wastel (“a kind of bread”). Compare Old High German wist (“food”) and Old English wist (“food”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈwastəl/
Noun
wastel
- A kind of fine white bread or cake.
- 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Prologues”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:
- Of smale houndes hadde she, that she fedde / With rosted flesh, and milk, and wastel brede.
- Some small dogs she had, which she fed / With roasted meat, and milk, and wastel bread.
References
- “wastel, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.