Etymograph / Myth vs. record / pumpernickel

Myth vs. record

pumpernickel

Every word has its own definition in its root. Some words also carry a story about where they came from. Here is what Wiktionary says about the story, and what the record shows.

What Wiktionary says about the story

A false folk etymology claims that this comes from the phrase pain pour Nicole ("bread for Nicole"), referring to Napoleon disliking the taste so much that he thought it was fit for his horse Nicole.

The record

Pumpernickel comes from German Pumpernickel ‘a type of sourdough rye bread’, and goes back to Low German Pumpernickel ‘farting Nicholas’.

1. Low GermanmodernPumpernickel¹‘farting Nicholas’literally ‘farting Nicholas’
2. Germanc. 1650–presentPumpernickel²‘a type of sourdough rye bread’
3. Englishearliest quotation 2016pumpernickel²

The full lineage of pumpernickel →