Word of the Day

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Cockaigne

\kah-KAYN\ , noun;

An imaginary land of ease and luxury.

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Quotes:

Outside, in the dark, a wobbly patch of life upon the blue snow, the deer perhaps browsed, her soft blob of a nose rapturously sunk in the chilly winter greenery, her modest brain-stem steeped in some dream of a Cockaigne for herbivores.

-- John Updike, Toward the End of Time

Everyone was seeking renewal, a golden century, a Cockaigne of the spirit.

-- Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum

Origin:

Cockaigne comes from Middle English cokaygne, from Middle French (pais de) cocaigne "(land of) plenty," ultimately adapted or derived from a word meaning "cake."