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Origin and history of cooky

cooky(n.)

variant of cookie.

Entries linking to cooky

cookie(n.)

1730, Scottish, but the sense is "plain bun," and it is debatable whether it is the same word; in the sense of "small, flat, sweet cake" by 1808 (American English); this use is from Dutch koekje "little cake," diminutive of koek "cake," from Middle Dutch koke (see cake (n.)). "Dutch influence is no doubt responsible also for the parallel use of the word in South African English" [Ayto, "Diner's Dictionary"].

Slang application to persons (especially an attractive woman) attested since 1920. Phrase that's the way the cookie crumbles "that's the way things happen" is attested by 1955.

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    biscuit
    "kind of hard, dry bread baked in thin flat cakes," respelled early 19c. from bisket (16c.), ultimately (besquite, early 14c.) from Old French bescuit "biscuit" (12c.), altered under influence of cognate Old Italian biscotto, both from Medieval Latin biscoctum, literally "twice-b
    kiss
    Old English cyssan "to touch with the lips" (in respect, reverence, etc.), from Proto-Germanic *kussjan (source also of Old Saxon kussian, Old Norse kyssa, Old Frisian kessa, Middle Dutch cussen, Dutch, Old High German kussen, German küssen, Norwegian and Danish kysse, Swedish ky
    Oreo
     type of cookie (made by Nabisco), 1912; the source of the name has been forgotten. As a derogatory word for "black person felt to have a 'white' mentality," 1968, African-American vernacular, from the snack cookies, which consist of dark chocolate wafers and white sugar cre
    cake
    early 13c., "flat or comparatively thin mass of baked dough," from Old Norse kaka "cake," from West Germanic *kokon- (source also of Middle Dutch koke, Dutch koek "a cake, gingerbread, dumpling," Old High German kuohho, German Kuchen "a cake, a tart"). Not believed to be related
    brownie
    1510s, "benevolent goblin supposed to haunt old farmhouses in Scotland," diminutive of brown "a wee brown man" (see brown (adj.)). The brownie was believed to be very useful to the family, particularly if treated well by them, and to the servants, for whom while they slept he wa
    snap
    1550s, perhaps late 15c., "a quick, sudden bite or cut; an eager seizing," from snap (v.), or, if the earlier date, a noun from Dutch or Low German snappen "to snap," which are probably related to Middle Low German or Middle Dutch snavel "bill, beak," which Watkins traced to a hy
    span
    [distance between two objects] Middle English spanne, a unit of length, from Old English span "distance between the thumb and the middle or little finger of an extended hand" (as a measure of length, roughly nine inches), probably related to Middle Dutch spannen "to join, fasten,
    macaroon
    1610s, "small sweet cake made of ground almonds (instead of flour) and whites of eggs," from French macaron (16c.), from dialectal Italian maccarone, the name of a kind of pasty food made of flour, cheese, and butter (see macaroni). The French meaning is said to have been introdu
    cook
    "one whose occupation is the preparing and cooking of food," Old English coc, from Vulgar Latin *cocus "cook," from Latin coquus, from coquere "to cook, prepare food, ripen, digest, turn over in the mind" from PIE root *pekw- "to cook, ripen." Germanic languages had no one native
    Elizabeth
    fem. proper name, Biblical name of the wife of Aaron, from Late Latin Elisabeth, from Greek Eleisabeth, Eleisabet, from Hebrew Elishebha "God is an oath," the second element said by Klein to be related to shivah (fem. sheva) "seven," and to nishba "he swore," originally "he bound

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