# bread

> English word · Noun · IPA /brɛd/ · frequency rank #2,981

## Definitions
1. A foodstuff made by baking dough made from cereals.
2. A foodstuff made by baking dough made from cereals.
3. Food; sustenance; support of life, in general.
4. Any variety of bread.
5. Money.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **bred** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-bred)
- **brew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-brew)
- **bree** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-bree)
- **bren** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-bren)
- **break** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-break)
- **broad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-broad)
- **Brian** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-brian)
- **breed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-breed)
- **Bryan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-bryan)
- **brett** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-brett)
- **Brent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-brent)
- **brood** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-brood)
- **brews** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-brews)
- **briar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-briar)
- **Brest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-brest)
- **bream** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-bream)
- **breath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-breath)
- **breaks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-breaks)
- **bureau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-bureau)
- **breast** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bread-vs-breast)

## Common misspellings (7)
`bbread`, `berad`, `braed`, `breadd`, `breda`, `brread`, `rbead`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bread