Barmbracks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Sweet yeasted Irish loaves studded with dried fruit, often served sliced and buttered at Halloween or teatime
2. Plural forms of a spiced, currant-studded tea bread traditionally made in Ireland and eaten with butter
3. Rich fruited loaves baked in Ireland, typically containing sultanas and candied peel and enjoyed with tea

Etymology: Barmbrack is a sweet, fruited yeast bread from Ireland, and its name is a loan from Irish "bairín breac", literally "speckled loaf". The second element, "breac", means "speckled" or "spotted", and it is the same root that gives Old Irish "brecc" and Proto-Celtic "*brikkos", so the name is essentially a description of the bread's appearance: the dried fruit scattered through the dough. The first element, "bairín", is a diminutive of "bairgen", the Old Irish word for "loaf" or "cake". That older word is itself traced back to a Proto-Indo-European root, but for an English speaker the useful point is simpler: the bread's name tells you what it is, a little loaf dotted with fruit. The plural "barmbracks" is simply the regular form, referring to more than one such loaf.