bis·cuit / ˈbiskit/ • n. 1. a small, typically round cake of bread leavened with baking powder, baking soda, or sometimes yeast. ∎ Brit. a cookie or cracker.2. another term for bisque³ : [as adj.] biscuit ware. 3. a light brown color.4. a small flat piece of wood used to join two mortised planks together.• adj. light brown in color.DERIVATIVES: bis·cuit·y adj.ORIGIN: Middle English: from Old French bescuit, based on Latin bis ‘twice’ + coctus, past participle of coquere ‘to cook’ (so named because originally biscuits were cooked in a twofold process: first baked and then dried out in a slow oven so that they would keep).

biscuit A baked flour confectionery dried down to low moisture content. The name is derived from the Latin bis coctus, meaning cooked twice. A 100‐g portion provides 400–500 kcal (1680–2100 kJ). Known as cookie in the USA, where ‘biscuit’ means a small cake‐like bun.

biscuit XIV. — OF. bescuit (mod. biscuit) :- medL. *biscoctus twice-baked (sc. panis bread). f. L. bis twice + coctus, pp. of coquere COOK.