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Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history it has been popular around the world and is one of the oldest artificial foods, having been of importance since the dawn of agriculture. There are many combinations and proportions of types of flour and other ingredients, and also of different traditional recipes and modes of preparation of bread. As a result, there are wide varieties of types, shapes, sizes, and textures of breads in various regions. Bread may be leavened by many different processes ranging from the use of naturally occurring microbes (for example in sourdough recipes) to high-pressure artificial aeration methods during preparation or baking. However, some products are left unleavened, either for preference, or for traditional or religious reasons. Many non-cereal ingredients may be included, ranging from fruits and nuts to various fats. Commercial bread in particular, commonly contains additives, some of them non-nutritional, to improve flavor, texture, color, shelf life, or ease of manufacturing. Depending on local custom and convenience, bread may be served in various forms at any meal of the day. It also is eaten as a snack, or used as an ingredient in other culinary preparations, such as fried items coated in crumbs to prevent sticking, or the bland main component of a bread pudding, or stuffings designed to fill cavities or retain juices that otherwise might drip away. Partly because of its importance as a basic foodstuff, bread has a social and emotional significance beyond its importance in nutrition; it plays essential roles in religious rituals and secular culture. Its prominence in daily life is reflected in language, where it appears in proverbs, colloquial expressions ("He stole the bread from my mouth"), in prayer ("Give us this day our daily bread") and even in the etymology of words, such as "companion" and "company" (literally those who eat/share bread with you). ==Etymology== The word itself, Old English ''bread'', is most common in various forms to many Germanic languages, such as Frisian ''brea'', Dutch ''brood'', German ''Brot'', Swedish ''bröd'', and Norwegian and Danish ''brød''; it has been claimed to be derived from the root of ''brew''. It may be connected with the root of ''break'', for its early uses are confined to ''broken pieces'' or ''bits'' of bread, the Latin ''crustum'', and it was not until the 12th century that it took the place—as the generic name for bread—of ''hlaf'' (''hlaifs'' in Gothic: modern English ''loaf''), which appears to be the oldest Teutonic name.〔 Old High German ''hleib'' and modern German ''Laib'' derive from this Proto-Germanic word for "loaf", which was borrowed into Slavic (Polish ''chleb'', Russian ''khleb'') and Finnic (Finnish ''leipä'', Estonian ''leib'') languages as well. In many cultures, bread is a metaphor for basic necessities and living conditions in general. For example, a "bread-winner" is a household's main economic contributor and has little to do with actual bread-provision. This is also seen in the phrase "putting bread on the table". The Roman poet Juvenal satirized superficial politicians and the public as caring only for "''panem et circenses''" (bread and circuses). In Russia in 1917, the Bolsheviks promised "peace, land, and bread."〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Russia )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Vladimir Lenin: From March to October. SparkNotes )〕 The term "breadbasket" denotes an agriculturally productive region. In Slavic cultures bread and salt is offered as a welcome to guests. In India, life's basic necessities are often referred to as "roti, kapra aur makan" (bread, cloth, and house). In Israel, the most usual phrase in work-related demonstrations is ''lekhem, avoda'' ("bread, work"). The word ''bread'' is commonly used around the world in English-speaking countries as a synonym for money (as is the case with the word "dough"). A remarkable or revolutionary innovation is often referred to in North America and the United Kingdom as "the greatest thing since sliced bread" or "the best thing since sliced bread". In Cockney rhyming slang, ''bread'' means money; this usage is derived from the phrase "bread and honey".〔(Cockney Rhyming Slang ). ''People''.scs.fsu.edu (23 January 2013). Retrieved 21 March 2013.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「bread」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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