# Web Page Cookies

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-page-cookies/85841>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 6, 2001, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-page-cookies/85841 "2001-10-06T22:58:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mortman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6f9a4e/32.png) [@mortman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mortman)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-page-cookies/85841/1 "2001-10-06T22:58:52Z")

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Does anyone know the origin of the word “cookies” that are used in web pages?

Thank you

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**Author:** ![micco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-page-cookies/85841/2 "2001-10-06T23:14:37Z")

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It comes from “magic cookie”, a term for a generic token in client/server programming.

[http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/magic-cookie.html](http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/magic-cookie.html)

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/web-page-cookies/85841/3 "2001-10-07T01:10:47Z")

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Another useful Jargon File entry is [this one](http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/cookie.html).

I’m not sure of the etymology, but I believe the term was coined at MIT.

The MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE protocol for authentication in the X11 system has been around for quite soem time.