# gingerbread

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈd͡ʒɪn.(d͡)ʒəˌbɹɛd/ · frequency rank #27,854

## Definitions
1. A type of cake whose main flavoring is ginger.
2. Something ersatz; something showy but insubstantial.
3. A flamboyant Victorian-era architectural style.

## Etymology
From Middle English gyngebred, gyngebrede, from Old French gingembras, gingimbrat (“preserved ginger”), from Medieval Latin *gingimbrātus (“gingered”, presumably referring to ginger that perhaps had a pharmaceutical use for some medicinal preparation), with the intrusive m added to gingiber, from Latin zingiber (“ginger”), of earlier Sanskrit origin, through Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis). The third syllable was earlier confounded with bread, and the insertion of an r in the second syllable completed the semblance of a compound word: ginger + bread.

## Common misspellings (17)
`ggingerbread`, `gignerbread`, `ginegrbread`, `gingebrread`, `gingerbbread`, `gingerberad`, `gingerbraed`, `gingerbreadd`, `gingerbreda`, `gingerbrread`, `gingerrbead`, `gingerrbread`, `ginggerbread`, `gingrebread`, `ginngerbread`, `gnigerbread`, `igngerbread`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/gingerbread