Drinking a Toast Once Involved Actual Toast
Toast is browned bread, and also a drink in someone's honour. The two are connected by a genuine old custom.
Toast is sliced bread browned by heat, and also a drink taken in someone's honour. The connection is real, not metaphorical: in the 1600s a piece of spiced toast was floated in wine to flavour it, and a lady honoured by the company was said to flavour the drink as the toast did. The name transferred from the bread to the person, then to the act. The word comes from Latin *torrere*, to parch or dry, which also gives *torrid*.
- Browned bread. *Buttered toast.*
- A drink in honour. *Propose a toast.*
- To brown. *Toast the bread.*
- Toastmaster — who announces toasts. *A toastmaster.*
- Latin — *torrere*, to parch. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | toast | Toast. |
| Verb | toast | Toast it. |
| Agent | toaster | A toaster. |
| Compound | toastmaster | A toastmaster. |
| Latin | torrere | To parch. |
- Two slices of toast, please.Food.
- He proposed a toast to the couple.Ceremony.
- Spiced toast once flavoured wine.History.
The torrere family
- Toast — bread dried and browned by heat
- Torrid — parchingly hot
- Torrent — unrelated, from a different Latin word
- Thirst — from a related Germanic root meaning dry
- Terra — the dry land, from the same distant root
Old French *toster*, to grill, from Latin *torrere*, to parch or roast.
Why is a drink in someone's honour called a toast?
From the seventeenth-century custom of floating spiced toast in wine. A woman honoured by the company was said to flavour the drink as the toast did.
Are toast and torrid related?
Yes. Both come from Latin torrere, to parch or dry with heat.