Etymology

breakfast

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Today it means: The first meal of the day, usually eaten in the morning. Full definition →

Middle English brekefast ← Old English fæstenbryċe
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromfæstenbryċe
  2. Middle English · inherited frombrekefast
  3. English todaybreakfast

From Middle English brekefast, brekefaste, equivalent to break + fast (literally, "to end the nightly fast"), likely a variant of Old English fæstenbryċe, (literally, "fast-breach"). Cognate with Dutch breekvasten (“breakfast”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.