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Well attestedNamed through a historical place-name

pomfret cake

noun · first attested 18th century

Pomfret is the old English name for Pontefract; Shakespeare used it too.

A small round licorice sweet stamped with a castle, made in West Yorkshire.

Pontefract·United Kingdom

53.6910°N -1.3120°W · Q1009235

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Record

Relationship
Named through a historical place-name
Confidence
Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
Attested
18th century
Part of speech
noun

Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.

How it traveled
  1. Step 1

    Pontefract

  2. In English

    pomfret cake

The entry

Licorice was grown around Pontefract and pressed into stamped discs bearing the town's castle, sold as Pontefract or pomfret cakes. The older spelling records how the Norman name was actually pronounced in English, and it survives in Shakespeare's history plays.

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