# madeleine

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmad(ə)lɪn/ · frequency rank #16,962

## Definitions
1. A French type of small gateau or sponge cake, often shaped like an elongated scallop shell.
2. Something which brings back a memory; a source of nostalgia or evocative memories.

## Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French madeleine, from earlier gâteau à la Madeleine, after the given name Madeleine (“Magdalene”), of uncertain reference: attributed in some sources to a 19th-century pastry cook Madeleine Paulmier, whose existence is now considered dubious.
In sense 2, used with reference to the cake's function in the extract below, taken from Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time.

## Easily confused with
- **Madeline** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/madeleine-vs-madeline)

## Common misspellings (12)
`amdeleine`, `maddeleine`, `madeeline`, `madeleien`, `madeleinne`, `madelenie`, `madeliene`, `madelleine`, `madleeine`, `maedleine`, `mdaeleine`, `mmadeleine`

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