Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Cornmeal bread usually shaped into a flat cake and baked or fried on a griddle.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Australia, a cake baked on the ashes or cooked in a frying-pan.
  • noun In the southern United States, a cake of Indian meal mixed with water or milk, seasoned with salt, and baked or toasted by being spread on a board set on edge before a fire. It is of negro origin.
  • noun In other parts of the United States, any unsweetened flat cake of Indian meal, sometimes mixed with mashed pumpkin (especially in New England), and usually baked in a pan: incorrectly used at times for corn-bread, pone, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun U.S. A kind of bread made of the meal of maize (Indian corn), mixed with water or milk, etc., and baked.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US A dense, baked or fried flatbread made of cornmeal.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun cornbread usually cooked pancake-style on a griddle (chiefly New England)
  • noun cornbread usually cooked pancake-style on a griddle (chiefly New England)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps alteration (influenced by the name Johnny + and cake) of earlier jonakin; perhaps akin to English dialectal (Lancashire) jannock, flat loaf of oaten bread, perhaps from Jan, variant of the name John.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

johnny, alteration of journey + cake

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Examples

  • They taught colonists to make a corn batter which, when cooked on a rock griddle or wooden board, became the flat bread known as johnnycake or journey cake for its rock-hard texture and inability to spoil.

    One Big Table Molly O’Neill 2010

  • In that case, it's much like johnnycake, which is a moist cornbread served with syrup, usually - in my case - for supper.

    RutlandHerald.com 2010

  • The meals were heavy on johnnycake and meat, with garden produce in season; everything eaten was grown on the property.

    George Washington’s First War David A. Clary 2011

  • The meals were heavy on johnnycake and meat, with garden produce in season; everything eaten was grown on the property.

    George Washington’s First War David A. Clary 2011

  • The meals were heavy on johnnycake and meat, with garden produce in season; everything eaten was grown on the property.

    George Washington’s First War David A. Clary 2011

  • Seared tuna, smoked trout, and poached salmon over a seaweed salad; herb-infused turkey breast with sweet potatoes, cranberry johnnycake, and bacon-wrapped green beans; and a chocolate-mousse crunch cake with apricot-and-cherry sauce.

    Food Fight 2009

  • The meals were heavy on johnnycake and meat, with garden produce in season; everything eaten was grown on the property.

    George Washington’s First War David A. Clary 2011

  • Seared tuna, smoked trout, and poached salmon over a seaweed salad; herb-infused turkey breast with sweet potatoes, cranberry johnnycake, and bacon-wrapped green beans; and a chocolate-mousse crunch cake with apricot-and-cherry sauce.

    Food Fight 2009

  • Mix together 1cup johnnycake meal or cornmeal, preferably stone ground see Sources, page 359, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon table salt in a large bowl.

    SARA MOULTON’S EVERYDAY FAMILY DINNERS SARA MOULTON 2010

  • Mix together 1cup johnnycake meal or cornmeal, preferably stone ground see Sources, page 359, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon table salt in a large bowl.

    SARA MOULTON’S EVERYDAY FAMILY DINNERS SARA MOULTON 2010

Comments

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  • Food shortages persisted until the army was reduced to living on johnnycake and corn dodger.

    July 3, 2009