Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water, usually by baking.

Throughout recorded history it has been a prominent food in large parts of the world and is
one of the oldest man-made foods, having been of significant importance since the dawn
of agriculture.
Bread

Various leavened breads

Main ingredients Flour, water

 Cookbook: Bread
 Media: Bread

Bread may be leavened by processes such as reliance on naturally

occurring sourdough microbes, chemicals, industrially produced yeast, or high-pressure
aeration. Commercial bread commonly contains additives to improve flavor, texture, color,
shelf life, nutrition, and ease of manufacturing.
Bread plays essential roles in religious rituals and secular culture.

Etymology
The Old English word for bread was hlaf (hlaifs in Gothic: modern English loaf), which
appears to be the oldest Teutonic name.[1] Old High German hleib[2] and
modern German Laib derive from this Proto-Germanic word, which was borrowed into
Slavic (Polish chleb, Russian khleb) and Finnic (Finnish leipä, Estonian leib) languages as
well. The Middle and Modern English word bread appears in Germanic languages, such
as West Frisian brea, Dutch brood, German Brot, Swedish bröd,
and Norwegian and Danish brød; it may be related to brew or perhaps to break, originally
meaning "broken piece", "morsel".[3]