gingerbread

Etymology 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.

Derived terms

cake and gingerbread, genderbread person, gingerbread cookie, gingerbreaded, gingerbread house, gingerbread husband, gingerbread man, gingerbread nut, gingerbread office, gingerbread palm, gingerbread plum, gingerbread trap, gingerbread tree, gingerbread up, gingerbread work, gingerbready, lord of gingerbread, man of gingerbread, pepper-gingerbread, take the gilt off the gingerbread

Related terms

ginger, gingersnap