Cockaigne is an imaginary land of great luxury and ease, originally described in a 13th-century French poem, "The Land of Cockaigne." The name likely derives from the French "terre de cocaigne," land of plenty.
Cockaigne รจ una terra immaginaria di grande lusso e agio, descritta originariamente in una poesia francese del XIII secolo "La terra di Cockaigne". Il nome deriva probabilmente dal francese "terre de cocaigne", terra dell'abbondanza.
| Word | Cockaigne |
|---|---|
| Date | October 11, 2011 |
| Type | noun |
| Syllables | kah-KAYN |
| Etymology | The term "Cockaigne" comes from the Middle French phrase "pais de cocaigne," which literally means "the land of plenty." The word was first popularized in a 13th-century French poem that is known in English as "The Land of Cockaigne." According to an early English translation of the work, in Cockaigne "the houses were made of barley sugar cakes, the streets were paved with pastry, and the shops supplied goods for nothing." (It's this original Cockaigne that is referenced in our second example above.) Some have theorized that "cocaigne" derives from an earlier word related to "cake" or "cook," but its early history remains obscure. |
| Examples | Located on a secluded white sandy beach, the resort -- with its many amenities, including a first-class luxury spa -- is like a utopian Cockaigne. "[Simon Patten's] particular genius was in recognizing capitalism's potential to realize something like a modern Cockaigne, the mythical land of plenty that beguiled the suffering masses in the Middle Ages." -- From Daniel Akst's 2011 book We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess |
| Definition | : an imaginary land of great luxury and ease |
Tags: wordoftheday::noun
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