Etymograph

English

breakfast

Breakfast comes from Middle English brekefast.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brekefast1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1591breakfast1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English breakfast
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “A ſorry Breakfaſt for my Lord Protector.”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brekefastWiktionary, English breakfast
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1591breakfastWiktionary, English breakfast. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “A ſorry Breakfaſt for my Lord Protector.”

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Today it means

noun The first meal of the day, usually eaten in the morning.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “breakfast”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English brekefast / breakfast