クロワッサン

1919 is an early Japanese printed point for クロワッサン: Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten cites Nagai Kafu's Danchotei Nichijo for January 1, with クロワサン and the note 三日月形のパン. The French source is croissant. In French, croissant means crescent and also comes from the verb croître, to grow; French dictionaries such as CNRTL record both the shape word and the pastry name. The borrowing is part of Taisho and Showa bakery vocabulary, when French food terms entered cafes, hotels, and urban bread shops. Related Japanese loanwords include バゲット, ブリオッシュ, and パン・オ・ショコラ, although パン itself is older and comes through Portuguese pão. The doubled small ッ in modern クロワッサン matches Japanese spelling habits for the French consonant cluster better than the older クロワサン. Modern Japanese クロワッサン is mainly the layered crescent pastry sold in bakeries and convenience stores. Compound names such as クロワッサンサンド keep this food meaning. French croissant can still function as a general adjective or noun for a crescent shape, not only food. English croissant is closer to the Japanese food meaning. A short example is 朝食にクロワッサンを食べた, with no reference to the French adjective.