definitions

breakfast

[ brek-fuh st ]
/ ˈbrɛk fəst /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR breakfast ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the first meal of the day; morning meal: A hearty breakfast was served at 7 a.m.
the food eaten at the first meal of the day: a breakfast of bacon and eggs.

verb (used without object)

to eat breakfast: He breakfasted on bacon and eggs.

verb (used with object)

to supply with breakfast: We breakfasted the author in the finest restaurant.

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RELATED WORDS

brunch

Nearby words

breaker strip, breaker zone, breakerless ignition, breakeven, breakeven chart, breakfast, breakfast club, breakfast food, breakfront, breaking, breaking and entering

Origin of breakfast

First recorded in 1425–75, breakfast is from the late Middle English word brekfast. See break, fast2
Related formsbreak·fast·er, nounbreak·fast·less, adjectivepost·break·fast, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for breakfast

British Dictionary definitions for breakfast

breakfast

/ (ˈbrɛkfəst) /

noun

  1. the first meal of the day
  2. (as modifier)breakfast cereal; a breakfast room
the food at this meal
(in the Caribbean) a midday meal

verb

to eat or supply with breakfast
Derived Formsbreakfaster, noun

Word Origin for breakfast

C15: from break + fast ²
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for breakfast

breakfast

n.

mid-15c., from break (v.) + fast (n.). The verb is recorded from 1670s. Related: Breakfasted; breakfasting.

Spanish almuerzo "lunch," but formerly and still locally "breakfast," is from Latin admorsus, past participle of admordere "to bite into," from ad- "to" + mordere "to bite." In common with almuerzo, words for "breakfast" tend over time to shift in meaning toward "lunch;" cf. French déjeuner "breakfast," later "lunch" (equivalent of Spanish desayuno "breakfast"), both from Vulgar Latin *disieiunare "to breakfast," from Latin dis- + ieiunare, jejunare "fast" (see jejune; also cf. dine). German Frühstück is from Middle High German vruostücke, literally "early bit." Old English had morgenmete "morning meal."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper