Italian bread
1
1.6
- noun
:
pan italiano
- For lunch, I made a sandwich using fresh mozzarella and basil on a slice of Italian bread.
- Italian bread loaf
- Italian bread slices
- crusty Italian bread
Examples
-
He grabbed the loaf of Italian bread and two teaspoons from the drainboard and went back to the bedroom.
Fiction book (1998) -
It's Italian bread.
-
Amy slides off her nightcap, stuffs it with what's left of her Italian bread loaf.
Fiction book (1994) -
He cut thick slices of Italian bread, then doctored them with butter and garlic.
Fiction book (1999) -
We had some day-old Italian bread from Caputo's, and I soaked that in eggs, milk, and a tiny splash of vanilla.
Blog text (7) -
RANDAL grabs Italian bread and smacks it into DANTE's face as he rushes him blindly.
Fiction book (1994) -
The recipe calls for toasting the Italian bread before layering with toppings for extra crunch.
-
She enjoyed her soup with a side of warm, crusty Italian bread to dip.
Synonyms
805
1.0
A common food made by baking dough from flour, often with yeast
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a simple adjective + noun composition: 'Italian' (of or relating to Italy) + 'bread' (a baked food), so the meaning is directly predictable as a type or style of bread associated with Italy. The phrase is descriptive rather than idiomatic and equivalent constructions exist in many languages, making it immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Italian bread may come from the simple loaves made in Italy, where bakers shaped long, crusty loaves without sugar or fat. The part Italian points to Italy and bread to the plain loaf, so the name now means 'a long, crusty, plain loaf'.