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bread

n. · v.
US //ˈbɹɛd// UK //bɹˈɛd// bread
  1. 1 baked food (n.)
    A1 Beginner Cooking

    a common food made by baking a mixture of flour, water, and usually yeast.

    a staple food prepared from a dough of ground cereal, typically wheat, which is leavened and baked.

    Example

    He bought a fresh loaf of bread from the bakery on his way home.

    Example

    Artisan bakers often use sourdough starters instead of commercial yeast to give the bread a more complex flavour and firmer texture.
  2. 2 money (n.)
    C1 Advanced Slang Informal

    a slang word for money.

    a slang term for money or financial resources.

    Example

    He's working two jobs because he needs to make some bread for his new car.

    Example

    In mid-century jazz culture, the term 'bread' became a ubiquitous synonym for the earnings from a performance.

    Teacher's tip

    This usage is somewhat dated but still widely understood in American and British slang; it is very informal.
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  1. 3 basic needs (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Literary

    the basic food or money you need to live.

    food or sustenance in a general sense; often used figuratively to represent the basic necessities of life.

    Example

    The workers were just trying to earn their daily bread.

    Example

    The poet used the image of 'breaking bread' to symbolise the peace and community found in a shared meal.
  2. 4 to coat in crumbs (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Cooking

    to cover food with breadcrumbs before frying or baking it.

    to coat a piece of food in breadcrumbs prior to cooking.

    Example

    You should bread the chicken before putting it in the frying pan.

    Example

    The chef recommended that we bread the fish lightly to ensure the delicate flavour of the sea bass was not overwhelmed by no means overwhelmed.

    Usage

    This is a transitive verb that requires a direct object.
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”).

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