gingerbread
/ˈd͡ʒɪn.d͡ʒɚˌbɹɛd/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.03 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "For a time modern architects took a starkly functional approach to the design of houses, emphasizing clean, uncluttered lines and rejecting most forms of wall ornamentation as dust-catching gingerbread."
Etymology
From Middle English gyngebred, gyngebrede, from Old French gingembras, gingimbrat (“preserved ginger”), from Medieval Latin *gingimbrātus (“gingered”, presumably referring to ginger that perhaps had a pharmaceutical use for some medicinal preparation), with the intrusive m added to gingiber, from Latin zingiber (“ginger”), of earlier Sanskrit origin, through Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis). The third syllable was earlier confounded with bread, and the insertion of an r in the second syllable completed the semblance of a compound word: ginger + bread.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈd͡ʒɪn.d͡ʒɚˌbɹɛd/
- British English: /ˈd͡ʒɪn.(d͡)ʒəˌbɹɛd/
Usage
Inflected Forms
gingerbreads (plural)
gingebred (alternative, Scotland)
gingerbreads (present, singular)
gingerbreading (participle, present)
gingerbreaded (participle, past)
gingerbreaded (past)