bread

Q: Is it correct to say "I'd like a bread, please."?

No — say "I'd like a loaf of bread, please.". When referring to a single unit, use 'a loaf of bread' or 'a piece/slice of bread'. 'Bread' is typically uncountable in this context.

n. C / U

A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈbɹɛd// UK //bɹˈɛd// bread

Archaic Dialect General-service Slang

n. a common food made from flour, water, and usually yeast. People bake it in an oven and eat it in sandwiches or with meals.

n. a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water, usually leavened with yeast and then baked.

SIMPLE

I eat bread and cheese for lunch.

CONTEXTUAL

The smell of freshly baked bread filled the entire kitchen.

COMPLEX

The village baker's sourdough bread, with its crisp crust and chewy interior, was famous throughout the region for its complex, tangy flavor.

Synonyms

Etymology 1

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁-der.? Proto-Germanic *braudą Proto-West Germanic *braud Old English brēad Middle English bred English bread From Middle English bred, breed, from Old English brēad (“fragment, bit, morsel, crumb", also "bread”), from Proto-West Germanic braud, from Proto-Germanic braudą (“bread”), from Proto-Indo-European bʰerw-, bʰrewh₁- (“to boil; to brew”), from bʰer- (“to bear, carry”). Alternatively, from Proto-Germanic braudaz, brauþaz (“broken piece, fragment”), from Proto-Indo-European bʰera- (“to split, beat, hew, struggle”) (see brittle). Perhaps a conflation of the two. Possibly a doublet of broa. Cognates Cognate with Scots breid (“bread”), Yola breed (“bread”), North Frisian bruad, Bruar, brüüdj (“bread”), Saterland Frisian Brood (“bread”), West Frisian brea (“bread”), Alemannic German brot, broud, bruat, bròt, bröt (“bread”), Cimbrian proat, pròat (“bread”), Dutch brood (“bread”), German Brod, Brot (“bread”), German Low German Brod, Brood, Broot, Brot, Bräot (“bread”), Limburgish broed (“bread”), Luxembourgish Brout (“bread”), Mòcheno proat (“bread”), Vilamovian brūt (“bread; loaf”), Yiddish ברויט (broyt, “bread”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål brød (“bread”), Elfdalian broð (“bread”), Faroese breyð (“bread”), Icelandic brauð (“bread”), Norn brau, brow (“bread”), Norwegian Nynorsk braud, brød (“bread”), Swedish bröd (“bread”), Crimean Gothic broe (“bread”); also Cornish brys (“thought; mind”), Irish and Scottish Gaelic beir (“bear, give birth to”), Welsh bryd (“aim, intent”), Latin fors (“chance, luck”), Greek φέρνω (férno), φέρω (féro, “to bear, carry”), Albanian brydh (“to ripen, soften; to crumble”), Latvian bērt (“to pour; to scatter, strew”), Lithuanian berti (“to scatter, strew”), Belarusian бру́ха (brúxa, “belly”), Czech břich, břicho, břuch (“belly”), Kashubian brzëch (“belly”), Polish brzuch, brzucho (“belly”), Russian брю́хо (brjúxo, “belly”), Slovak brucho (“belly”), Armenian բերել (berel, “to bring, fetch”), Persian بردن (bordan/burdan, “to bear, carry”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B pär- (“to bear; to wear”), Sanskrit भारयति (bhārayati, “to carry”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English payn (“bread”), borrowed from Old French pain (“bread”). In this sense, mostly replaced loaf, which had been the more common term in Old English (see hlaf), a process which similarly occured in other languages such as German.

Etymology 2

From Middle English brede (“breadth, width, extent”), from Old English brǣdu (“breadth, width, extent”), from Proto-Germanic *braidį̄ (“breadth”). Cognate with Scots brede, breid (“breadth”), Dutch breedte (“breadth”), German Breite (“breadth”), Swedish bredd (“breadth”), Icelandic breidd (“breadth”).

Etymology 3

Variant of braid, from Middle English breden, from Old English brēdan, breġdan (“to braid”).

Usage

Uncountable when referring to the food in general ('a slice of bread'). Countable when referring to different types or specific loaves ('three different breads').

Pitfall

I'd like a bread, please.I'd like a loaf of bread, please.When referring to a single unit, use 'a loaf of bread' or 'a piece/slice of bread'. 'Bread' is typically uncountable in this context.

Idioms17 entries