Breakfast
/ˈbrɛk.fəst/noun
The first meal of the day, typically eaten in the morning.
Did you know?'Breakfast' has roots in medieval practices where fasting was a common spiritual discipline before the first meal of the day.
Etymological Timeline
Middle English
English
brekfast
“The meal that breaks the overnight fast.”
Old English
English
frēa
“To break or interrupt (from the action of stopping a period of fasting).”
Late Old English
English
fæstan
“To fast; to abstain from food.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
frēzan
“To freeze, which relates to the concept of fasting during winter months.”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*gʷer-
“To consume or devour, connecting to the act of eating.”