Etymology

The word itself, Old English bread. is common in various forms to many Germanic languages ; such as Frisian brea. Dutch brood. German Brot. Swedish bröd. Norwegian and Danish brød ; it has been claimed to be derived from the root of brew. However, it may be connected with the root of break. for its early uses are confined to broken pieces. or bits of bread, the Latin crustum. and it was not until the 12th century that it took the place—as the generic name for bread—of hlaf (𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃 [hlaifs] in Gothic. modern English loaf ), which appears to be the oldest Teutonic name; Old High German hleib and modern German Laib. or Finnish leipä. Estonian leib. and Russian хлеб (khleb) are similar (all are derived from the Old German word for "loaf").