English

Proper noun

Madeleine

1. A female given name.
   • 1967 Joan G. Robinson, When Marnie Was There, HarperCollins (2014), ISBN 978-0-00-759135-0, page 185:

     "We've been making up the most glamorous names for you, Marguerite and Marlene and Madeleine―"

     "And Melanie and Marianne and Marietta," put in Jane.

French

Etymology

From Latin Magdalena.

Proper noun

Madeleine f

1. A female given name, equivalent to English Magdalene.
   • 1857 Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary: Part II, Chapter III: (translation by Eleanor Marx-Aveling)

     — M. Léon, disait le pharmacien, avec qui j’en causais l’autre jour, s’étonne que vous ne choisissiez point Madeleine, qui est excessivement à la mode maintenant.

     Mais la mère Bovary se récria bien fort sur ce nom de pécheresse.

     "Monsieur Leon," said the chemist, "with whom I was talking about it the other day, wonders you do not chose Madeleine. It is very much in fashion just now."

     But Madame Bovary, senior, cried out loudly against this name of a sinner.

Related terms

• Marie-Madeleine

References

• MeilleursPrénoms, based on INSEE data: 144 594 females named Madeleine in France in 1900 - 2009, with the popularity peak in 1920. Accessed on March 29th, 2011.

German

Etymology

From French Madeleine.

Proper noun

Madeleine

1. A female given name.

Related terms

• Magdalena

Norwegian

Alternative forms

• Madelen

Etymology

From French Madeleine.

Proper noun

Madeleine

1. A female given name.

Related terms

• Magdalena
• Malene
• Malin

References

• Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 1785 females with the given name Madeleine living in Norway on January 1st 2011. Accessed on March 29th 2011.

Swedish

Etymology

From French Madeleine. First recorded as a Swedish name in 1788.

Alternative forms

• Madelene

Proper noun

Madeleine

1. A female given name.

Related terms

• Magdalena
• Malin

References

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, ISBN 91-21-10937-0
• Statistiska centralbyrån: 21 874 females with the given name Madeleine living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010. Accessed on March 29th, 2011.

English

Two madeleines (small gateaux)

Noun

madeleine ‎(plural madeleines)

1. A small gateau or sponge cake, often shaped like an elongated scallop shell.
   • 1981, CK Scott Moncrieff & Terence Kilmartin, translating Marcel Proust, Swann's Way, Folio Society 2005, p. 44:

     And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray [...] my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane.

   • 2003, Emily Luchetti, A Passion for Desserts, Chronicle Books 2003, p. 20:

     Madeleine batter can be made in advance and refrigerated.

2. Something which brings back a memory; a source of nostalgia or evocative memories (used with reference to its function in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time).
   • 2001, James Carroll, Constantine's Sword, Houghton-Mifflin 2001, p. 223:

     The Robe was thus fixed in my mind as a symbol, and in my memory as a madeleine, of Jewish evil.

   • 2005, Roger Ebert, Rogert Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2005, p. 784:

     Every five years or so, in the middle of another task, I'll look at them and a particular cover will bring memory flooding back like a madeleine.

Translations

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowing from French madeleine.

Noun

madeleine

1. madeleine

Declension

Synonyms

• madeleine-leivos

French

Etymology

See Magdalene.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /madlɛn/

Noun

madeleine f ‎(plural madeleines)

1. (cooking) madeleine