Phrase guide

maids of honour tart

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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A traditional English baked tart consisting of a puff pastry shell filled with curds, sometimes with jam or almonds and nutmeg.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: maids of honour cake

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Said to date back to Henry VIII when he witnessed some of the Queen’s maids of honour eating some cakes and demanded to taste one. He found them delicious and named them after the maids. However, there is another theory that they were named after Anne Boleyn, a maid of honour at the time, who made the cakes for Henry VIII.