Where does “French bread” come from?
French bread (English) comes from English bread, from Middle English bred, from Old English bred, from Old English -en, from Old Norse -inn, from Proto-Norse -īna-, from Proto-Germanic -īnaz, from Proto-Indo-European -iHnos — adjectival suffix.
French bread (English): a long thin loaf of bread with a thick crust and often having large bubbles of air inside, popular in and associated with France
Definitions
- a long thin loaf of bread with a thick crust and often having large bubbles of air inside, popular in and associated with France
Ancestry of “French bread”, step by step
French bread traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English bread
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | bread | A foodstuff made by baking dough made from... |
| 2 | Middle English | bred | bread, pastry; food, nourishment |
| 3 | Old English | bred | surface; plank, board; table, tablet |
| 4 | Old English | -en | mæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;... |
| 5 | Old Norse | -inn | Used to create adjectives from nouns, meaning... |
| 6 | Proto-Norse | -īna- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |
via English French
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | French | The people of France; groups of French people;... |
| 2 | Middle English | French | — |
| 3 | Old English | Frenċisċ | Frankish |
| 4 | Old English | Franca | Frank, Frenchman; a Frank |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | frankō | spear, javelin; a Frank |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | frankô | spear, javelin; a Frank |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | prAng- | pole, stalk |