Hlaf
/lɑːv/noun
An Old English word meaning loaf of bread.
Did you know?Old English hlāf sits behind the kingly title hlāford, originally meaning “loaf-keeper” or “bread-provider,” a reminder that power once meant feeding people.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*hlaibaz
“Loaf; bread”
Old English
OE
hlāf
“Loaf, bread”
Old English
OE
hlāford
“Lord; literally bread-keeper or loaf-ward”
Middle English
ME
loof
“Loaf”
Modern English
English
loaf
“A shaped mass of bread, or a block-shaped quantity of food”