Which 1900 book contains the first known printed use of “donut”?

The first known printed use of “donut” appears in Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa, a 1900 book by American writer George W. Peck.

The spelling occurs in dialogue, where a character says he will have coffee and “a donut.” That makes the book an important early witness to the shortened form, even though “doughnut” remained the more established spelling for decades.

The word’s history is not the same as the pastry’s history. Fried dough foods are much older, and “dough nut” appeared in cookbooks before 1900. The 1900 claim concerns the shortened spelling “donut,” not the invention of doughnuts themselves or the first ring-shaped example.

The two spellings continue to coexist. “Doughnut” preserves the older connection between dough and nut-like pieces, while “donut” became especially prominent in American commercial usage during the twentieth century. Claims that the shorter form was invented only by a 1920s doughnut-machine company therefore overlook this earlier printed example.