Koek
/kuːk/noun
A cake or other sweet baked item, especially in Afrikaans and South African usage.
Did you know?Koek belongs to the same ancient word family as English “cake,” “cook,” and “kitchen,” ultimately tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to cook.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pekw-
“To cook or ripen food through heat.”
Classical Latin
Latin
coquere
“To cook, boil, or prepare food by heat.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*kokōn
“A cooked or baked food, especially a cake; likely borrowed from Latin.”
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch
coeke / coque
“Cake or baked sweet food.”
Modern Dutch
Dutch
koek
“Cake, biscuit, or other baked sweet.”
Modern Afrikaans
Afrikaans
koek
“Cake or sweet baked food, inherited from Dutch.”
Modern English
English
koek
“A loanword used chiefly in South African English for a cake or sweet baked item.”