Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A glazed, brittle biscuit that is usually salted on the outside and baked in the form of a loose knot or stick.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A small brittle biscuit, usually baked in the form of a knot, and salted on the outside; a cracknel.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A kind of German biscuit or cake in the form of a twisted ring, salted on the outside.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A toasted bread or cracker usually in the shape of a loose knot.
  • noun Anything that is knotted, twisted, or tangled.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun glazed and salted cracker typically in the shape of a loose knot

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[German Brezel, from Middle High German brēzel, prēzel, from Old High German brēzila, brezzitella, from Medieval Latin bracellus, alteration of Medieval Latin *brāchiātellus, diminutive of Latin bracchiātus, having branches like arms (in reference to the traditional form of a pretzel said to be made to look like arms folded in prayer), from bracchium, arm, from Greek brakhīōn, upper arm; see mregh-u- in Indo-European roots.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pretzel.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.