Etymograph

English

toast

Toast comes from Middle English tost, and goes back to Old French toster.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400toster1
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tostendeverb.1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tost1
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597toast1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English toast, which cites OED
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wiues of Windsor: “Go, fetch me a quart of Sacke, put a…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tosterWiktionary, English toast, which cites OED
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tostendeverb.Wiktionary, English toast, which cites OED
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tostWiktionary, English toast, which cites OED
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597toastWiktionary, English toast, which cites OED. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wiues of Windsor: “Go, fetch me a quart of Sacke, put a…”

The story

Etymology 1 sense 3 is according to the Oxford English Dictionary a figurative application of etymology 1 sense 1 dating to 1674. It began as an epithet for a lady being supposed to flavour a bumper like a spiced toast placed in that drink. (In this context, a bumper is a drinking vessel filled to the brim.)

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Old French toster

Another origin of toast

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ters-‘dry’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tr̥stós‘dried’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*torstosreconstructed
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtostus‘grilled, burnt’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtorreō‘to burn, grill’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400toster‘to roast, grill’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tosten‘to toast’
  8. Englishtodaytoast

Today it means

noun Bread that has been toasted (cooked lightly by browning).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “toast”. 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 / Old French toster / toast

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