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Glite Dictionary
Devonshire cream

Devonshire cream

7.6
A thick rich spread from Devon made from milk and served with scones
  • noun
  • /ˈdɛvənʃɪr kriːm/
  • UK
translation icon : crema de Devon
  • Ruler of Cheshire cheeses, Yorkshire hams... ... Devonshire cream, Welsh lamb... ... and all the roast beefs of England.

Examples

  • At the English tea shop, I ordered a slice of cake served with Devonshire cream on the side.

  • Devonshire cream for Mr. Benjamin Guggenheim.

    Titanic (1953)

  • I enjoy spreading Devonshire cream on my scones for afternoon tea.

  • For a delicious dessert, we topped the berries with a generous dollop of Devonshire cream.

Synonyms

clotted cream
vsDevonshire cream
  • UK
1 3.4

A thick, rich dairy spread made by heating milk and letting the cream rise and thicken on top

is a regional specialty from one English county rather than a general British product

Surface Forms

Devonshire cream singular
Devonshire creams plural

Morphology

Devonshire + cream

The noun phrase is directly compositional: 'Devonshire' names a place/region and 'cream' names a dairy product, so together they denote a cream from Devonshire. This place+product pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning despite its regional specificity.

Etymology

Devonshire cream comes from the county of Devon in England, where farmers slowly heated fresh milk so a thick layer of cream rose to the top. That's why 'Devonshire cream' means 'a very thick, rich cream' and is a local specialty.