Brot (German)

Where does "Brot" come from?

The German noun 'Brot' meaning bread descends through Middle High German 'brōt' and Old High German 'brōt', which has been attested since the eighth century[1][2][3]. Going further back, this comes from Proto-West Germanic '*braud' and Proto-Germanic '*braudą', which ultimately traces to the Proto-Indo-European root '*bʰrew-' meaning 'to seethe, to boil'[1]. Originally, the word meant 'what has been fermented, leaven' and may be derived from Proto-Germanic '*brewwaną' meaning 'to brew'[1].

Open questions

• The Proto-Germanic form '*braudą' is disputed and is considered by some scholars to be a conflation of roots meaning to boil and to pierce, while others derive it directly from the verb meaning to brew. [4]

Full etymology tree

• Brot (German), 'bread'
  • inherited brot (Middle High German), 'bread'
    • inherited brot (Old High German), 'bread'
      • inherited *braud (Proto-West Germanic), 'bread'
        • inherited *braudą (Proto-Germanic), 'bread'
          • derived *brewwaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to brew'

Ancestors

• brot (Middle High German)
• brot (Old High German)
• *braud (Proto-West Germanic)
• *braudą (Proto-Germanic)
• *bʰrewh₁- (Proto-Indo-European)

Cognates and doublets

• *brewwaną (Proto-Germanic)

Descendants and derived words

• Brotaufstrich (German)
• Brotbackautomat (German)
• Brotbeutel (German)
• Brötchen (German)
• Broterwerb (German)
• Brotherr (German)
• Brotkasten (German)
• Brotkorb (German)
• Brotkrume (German)
• brotlos (German)
• Brotmesser (German)
• Brotneid (German)

Sources

1. Brot (German) - Wiktionary
2. brot (Middle High German) - Wiktionary
3. brot (Old High German) - Wiktionary
4. braudą (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
5. bʰrewh₁- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
6. braud (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
7. brewwaną (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris