An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Brot

by Friedrich Kluge

Brot, n., ‘bread, food, loaf,’ from the equiv. MidHG. brôt, OHG. brôt, n. The form with t is strictly UpGer.; comp. LG. brôd, Du. brood, AS. breád, E. bread, OIc. brauð. The old inherited form for Brot was Laib (Goth. hlaifs); and ancient compounds like AS. hlâford.œd (for *hlâfward), ‘loafward, bread-giver,’ E. lord, preserve the OTeut. word (see Laib), in addition to which a new word peculiar to Teut. was formed from a Teut. root. To this root, which appears in brauen, we must assign the earlier and wider meaning of ‘to prepare by heat or fire’; comp. AS. and E. broth (Ital. broda, ‘broth,’ is of Teut. origin) and brodeln. In Brot it would have the special signification ‘to bake.’ There is a strange OTeut. compound of Brot-, MidHG. bî-brôt, ModHG. Bienen-brot, AS. beóbreád, E. beebread, all of which signify ‘honeycomb,’ lit. ‘bread of bees’; in this compound the word Brot appears, singularly enough, for the first time. In earlier AS. the modern meaning, ‘bread,’ is still wanting, but it is found even in OHG.