means A thin, flat cake made from a batter of flour, eggs, and milk, cooked on both sides on a hot griddle or pan.

from Exactly what it says on the tin: a cake cooked in a pan. "Pan" descends from Old English 'panne' (a cooking vessel), itself likely borrowed from a Latin source, perhaps 'patina,' a shallow dish. "Cake" arrived from Old Norse 'kaka,' a cousin of the German 'Kuchen.' The compound "pancake" has been flipping around English since the 1400s — a plain, sturdy word for a plain, sturdy comfort.