The almond-flavoured confection now known as marzipan was originally known in English as marchpane, a name that probably traces its origin back to an Arabic term meaning seated king. This Arabic term—mawthaban—was originally applied by the Arabs to an Italian coin depicting Christ sitting on a throne. The Italians themselves then borrowed this name, spelling it marzapane, and also used it to refer to the coin. Later on, they came to apply the coin’s name to fancy boxes of candy, the connection perhaps being that such boxes were often decorated, like the coin, with cameos or depictions of classical figures. The Italians eventually transferred the word marzapane from the box to the confections it contained, and it was at this point, around the fifteenth century, that English adopted the word, spelling it marchpane. This spelling persisted in English until the nineteenth century when marzipan started to be commonly imported from Germany; as a result, the German word for the confection—marzipan, which of course developed from the same source as marchpane—eventually became the standard English name.
A confectionary treat crafted by combining almond paste with sugar, commonly molded into miniature shapes resembling fruits and vegetables, and often tinted with food coloring.
The contemporary usage of this expression typically denotes a synonymous representation of almond paste. Specifically, the appellation is predominantly employed in reference to confectioneries crafted from the aforementioned paste.