# Origin of 'Doughnut'

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-doughnut/4779>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 14, 1999, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-doughnut/4779 "1999-11-14T22:38:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 1999, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-doughnut/4779/1 "1999-11-14T22:38:00Z")

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Why do we call them that? They’re made from batter, but I guess you could allow the ‘dough’ part. But what do they have to do with nuts?

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 1999, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-doughnut/4779/2 "1999-11-14T22:58:00Z")

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The dough does get harder after you deep fry it.  
I think you need to expand your definition of “nut.”

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**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 1999, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-doughnut/4779/3 "1999-11-14T23:06:00Z")

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[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian/issues98/mar98/object\_mar98.html](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian/issues98/mar98/object_mar98.html)

It comes from nutmeg?

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**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 1999, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-doughnut/4779/4 "1999-11-14T23:09:00Z")

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Sorry, didn’t read it all through before posting. Walnuts or hazelnuts were originally in the center before there were holes.

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**Author:** ![mipsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mipsman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mipsman)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 1999, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-doughnut/4779/5 "1999-11-15T00:57:00Z")

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It was a dough “nought”, nought being an archaic word for “0”.

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**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 1999, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-doughnut/4779/6 "1999-11-16T19:31:00Z")

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## Beleive it or not I was watching a cooking show today about doughnuts. according to the show originaly they were called oily cakes and the first doughnuts had no hole they were just small drops of dough put into oil. The finished product was about the size of a walnut (maybe hazelnut) and looked similar thus they were commonly called dough nuts, doughnuts. The show was “Home Grown Cooking” on the home and garden network.

“Boy, wouldja get a load of the cloaca on that one”? -Cecil Adams, october 8 1999

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**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 1999, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-doughnut/4779/7 "1999-11-17T07:24:00Z")

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Bottom line: Any derivation of ‘doughnut’ would have a hole in it, or otherwise be nutty.

Ray