wastel
English edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Noun edit
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 edit
References edit
- “wastel”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Anagrams edit
Middle English edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Noun edit
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.
Descendants edit
References edit
- “wastel, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.