lefse

English

Alternative forms

• lefsa

Etymology

From Norwegian lefse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛfsə/

Noun

lefse (countable and uncountable, plural lefses)

1. A traditional soft Norwegian flatbread made from potato, flour, and milk or cream (or sometimes lard) and cooked on a griddle.
   • 2007 November 20, Monica Davey, “For Children of Norway, a Rift With the Mother Country”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     We treasure the heritage more here than they do in Norway itself, said Audrey Amundson of Starbuck, Minn., which sealed its place in history in 1983 by cooking what residents insist was the world's biggest lefse, a Norwegian flatbread made of potatoes, cream and flour.

Anagrams

• feels, flees, selfe

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• lefsa

Dialects

• løpsa (Sognamål)
• lepse (Northern Fyrdemål)
• løfse (Southern Fyrdemål, Southern Møre dialect)
• læms (Trøndelag dialect)
• læmse (Østerdalsmål)

Etymology

From Old Norse *leifsa, an s-derivative of Old Norse leifr (hleifr). Cognate with Shetlandic lefsi and Swedish dialectal läfsa. Attested by Jacob Nicolai Wilse in 1780 as Levse in Spydeberg dialect.

Noun

lefse f (definite singular lefsa, indefinite plural lefser, definite plural lefsene)

1. lefse

   Synonym: kling

Derived terms

• anislefse
• Hardangerlefse
• møsbrømlefse
• nordlandslefse
• potetlefse
• tynnlefse
• tjukklefse
• tykklefse

Descendants

• → Danish: lefse, levse
  • → Icelandic: lefsa