scone

English

Etymology

Originally Scots, possibly from Middle Low German schö̂ne (“fine flour bread”), or from Greek σκόνη (skóni, “dust”) or Middle Dutch schoonbroot (“fine bread; a kind of flat angular loaf”), from schoon (“fine”) + broot (“bread”); alternatively, Scottish Gaelic sgonn (“lump, mouthful”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: skŏn, skōn, IPA^(key): /skɒn/, /skəʊn/
• (General American) enPR: skōn, skŏn, IPA^(key): /skoʊn/, /skɑn/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɒn, -əʊn

Noun

scone (plural scones)

1. A small, rich, pastry or quick bread, sometimes baked on a griddle.
   • 1975 [1969], “The Lumberjack Song”, performed by Monty Python:

     On Wednesdays I go shopping / And have buttered scones for tea

   • 1979, Monty Python's Life of Brian, spoken by Reg (John Cleese):

     Well, that's all right, then, Brian. Sit down. Have a scone. Make yourself at home. You klutz!

2. (Utah, Idaho) Frybread served with honey butter spread on it.
   • 1993, Ann Whiting Orton, “A Fork in the Road: Mom-and-Pop Eateries in Far Reaches of Utah Offer Som of the Finest Fair”, in Deseret News:

     Dinner rolls and deep-fried crusty scones that border on loaf-size or juicy fruit pies tagged with county-fair blue ribbons rise from backroad eating sites.

3. (informal, Australia, New Zealand) The head.
   • 2011 February 2, “Power hitting Pakistani leaves mark on lensman”, in Hawke's Bay Today:

     …the white ball left a 5cm gash on his scone despite a floppy white hat absorbing some of the impact.

   • 2015 July 15, “Cogstate can count on rich pipeline of cognitive test trials”, in The Australian:

     After Essendon coach James Hird tumbled off his bike and hit his scone on the unforgiving South Yarra terrain on Monday night, the chances are he was administered the Cogstate concussion test.

Derived terms

Related terms

• tattie scone, tatty scone

Translations

Verb

scone (third-person singular simple present scones, present participle sconing, simple past and past participle sconed)

1. (transitive, slang, Australia, New Zealand) To hit on the head.
   • 2004 December 3, “Sconed by a space rock - and then the headaches started”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:

Further reading

• scone on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Cones, Cosen, Noces, SENCO, cones, cosen, econs

Middle Dutch

Adjective

scone

1. Alternative spelling of schône

Scots

Etymology

Possibly from Middle Low German schö̂ne (“fine flour bread”), or from Greek σκόνη (skóni, “dust”) or Middle Dutch schoonbroot (“fine bread; a kind of flat angular loaf”), from schoon (“fine”) + broot (“bread”); alternatively, Scottish Gaelic sgonn (“lump, mouthful”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Verb

scone

1. to strike the surface of something with some flat object
2. to crush flat with a slap

Noun

scone (plural scones)

1. a semisweet cake made of wheat or barley flour, usually large and round
2. a slap with the flat of the hand

Derived terms