Etymology

loaf

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Today it means: A block of bread after baking. Full definition →

Middle English lof ← Old English hlāf ← Proto-West Germanic *hlaib
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loaf · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷel-der.?
  2. Proto-Germanic*hlaibaz
  3. Proto-West Germanic*hlaib
  4. Old Englishhlāf
  5. Middle Englishlof
  6. English todayloaf

From Middle English laf, lof, loof, from Old English hlāf (“bread; loaf”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlaib, from Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz (“bread; loaf”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Old English hlifian (“to stand out prominently, tower up”). Cognates Cognate with German Laib (“loaf”), Danish and Swedish lev (“loaf”), Faroese leivur (“an oblong bun”), Icelandic hleifur (“loaf”), Norwegian Nynorsk leiv (“loaf”), Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐍃 (hlaibs), 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃 (hlaifs, “bread”) (whence Proto-Slavic *xlěbъ (“bread”) (see there for further descendants)), Estonian leib (“black bread”), Finnish leipä (“bread; loaf”); also Latvian klaips (“loaf”), Lithuanian kliẽpas (“loaf”). Doublet of chleb and khleb. * (brain or head): Rhyming slang, ellipsis of loaf of bread.

loaf · verb2

Probably a back-formation from loafer.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.