English
loaf
Loaf comes from Old English hlāf ‘bread’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlaibaz1‘bread’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hlaib1‘bread’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hlāf1‘bread’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500laf1
- Englishearliest quotation 1627loaf1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English loaf
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, IV. Century.: “sugar-loaf”.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hlaibazWiktionary, English loaf‘bread’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hlaibWiktionary, English loaf‘bread’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hlāfWiktionary, English loaf‘bread’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lafWiktionary, English loaf
- Englishearliest quotation 1627loafWiktionary, English loaf. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, IV. Century.: “sugar-loaf”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with loaf, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷel-
- cycle ← cicle ← cyclus ← κύκλος ← *kúklos
- pole ← polus ← πόλος ← *pólos ← *kʷól-os
- polar ← polāris ← polus ← πόλος ← *pólos
- columnist
- bazaar ← bazar ← بازار ← بازار ← wʾčʾl
- pulley ← puly ← poulie ← polidia ← πολίδιον
- accolade ← acolada ← accollato ← ad ← *ad
- bucolic ← būcolicus ← βουκολικός ← βουκόλος ← *gʷoukólos
8 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun A block of bread after baking.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “loaf”. 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 / Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz / loaf