Meaning of madeleine | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A female given name from French, variant of Madeline.
2. A French type of small gateau or sponge cake, often shaped like an elongated scallop shell.
3. A small rich cake, baked in a shell-shaped mold.
4. Something which brings back a memory; a source of nostalgia or evocative memories.
   figuratively
5. (Cookery) a small fancy sponge cake
6. a small shell-shaped cake.
7. something that triggers memories or nostalgia.

Equivalents

Examples

“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.”

“Madeleine batter can be made in advance and refrigerated.”

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

“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.”

“My madeleine moment happened early on Friday, while pot smoke⟳ drifted in the air as I waited for a shuttle to the polo fields where Coachella takes place⟳.”

“"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.”

CEFR level