Lamington
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A small square Australian/New Zealand cake made with sponge cake covered on all sides (including top and bottom) with chocolate and desiccated coconut. Australia, New-Zealand
"Women were also known for their cooking skills although this was not so much in the provision of meals (which were ‘simple and wholesome’), but in the production of confectionery, ranging from scones, biscuits, sponges, cakes, etc., to such noted Australian and New Zealand delicacies as lamingtons and pavlova."
- 1 A village in Highland council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NH7477).
- 2 A village in South Lanarkshire council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NS9831).
- 3 A suburb of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
- 4 An unincorporated community in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Women were also known for their cooking skills although this was not so much in the provision of meals (which were ‘simple and wholesome’), but in the production of confectionery, ranging from scones, biscuits, sponges, cakes, etc., to such noted Australian and New Zealand delicacies as lamingtons and pavlova."
Etymology
Uncertain. Although current dictionaries all associate it with Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, the earliest publication of this derivation is by John Hepworth in the Nation Review of July 1977. An earlier (1966) reference gives the cake but does not associate it with the Baron, suggesting the theory was not current in the 1960s. It has also been claimed that the name comes from Lamington, South Lanarkshire.
Related phrases
More for "lamington"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.