Phrase guide

king cake

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /kɪŋ keɪk/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A decorative cake distributed among friends or visitors on Epiphany. In many traditions it contains a pea, a trinket or some other small object which entitles its finder to be the "king" for one day.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Louisiana, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: baby cake, epiphany cake, three kings' cake, twelfth cake, twelfth-day cake

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Probably a calque of French galette des rois (literally “galette of the kings”), meaning the three Magi who visited the baby Jesus at Epiphany.

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: كَعْكَة عِيد الغَطَّاس — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Basque: errege-opil — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Catalan: tortell — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Catalan: tortell de Reis — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Chinese Mandarin: 帝王蛋糕 (dìwáng dàngāo) — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Danish: helligtrekongerskage — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Dutch: driekoningentaart — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Dutch: koningentaart — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Esperanto: reĝoflano — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Finnish: loppiaiskakku — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • French: galette des rois — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • French: gâteau des rois — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • French: couronne des rois — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • German: Dreikönigskuchen — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Greek: βασιλόπιτα (vasilópita) — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Italian: galette des rois — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Japanese: ガレット・デ・ロワ (garetto de rowa) — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Occitan: corona dels Reis — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Occitan: reiaume — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Persian: کیک پادشاه — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Polish: ciasto Trzech Króli — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Portuguese: bolo-rei — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Russian: пиро́г волхво́в (piróg volxvóv) — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Spanish: roscón de Reyes — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Spanish: rosca de Reyes — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Swedish: kungskaka — cake eaten on Epiphany
  • Vietnamese: bánh vua — cake eaten on Epiphany