gingerbread

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromζιγγίβερις
2. Latin · derived fromzingiber“ginger”
3. Medieval Latin · derived from*gingimbrātus“gingered”
4. Old French · derived fromgingembras
5. Middle English · inherited fromgyngebred
6. English todaygingerbread

From Middle English gyngebred, gyngebrede, from Old French gingembras, gingimbrat (“preserved ginger”), from Medieval Latin *gingimbrātus (“gingered”, presumably referring to ginger that perhaps had a pharmaceutical use for some medicinal preparation), with the intrusive m added to gingiber, from Latin zingiber (“ginger”), of earlier Sanskrit origin, through Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis). The third syllable was earlier confounded with bread, and the insertion of an r in the second syllable completed the semblance of a compound word: ginger + bread.