onion bread

2.5

Bread made with small chopped onions mixed into the dough

noun

: pan de cebolla

I picked up a loaf of onion bread from the bakery for tonight's dinner.

Examples

I love onion bread with my soup.
Have you tried onion breads from that bakery?
She enjoyed toasted onion bread with a spread of butter in the morning.
The subtle flavor of onion bread makes it perfect for sandwiches.
He enjoyed a slice of onion bread with his soup for dinner.
At the bakery, we bought a warm loaf of onion bread to take home.
The recipe called for finely chopped onions mixed into the dough for the onion bread.

Synonyms

onion bagel

vsonion bread

2 1.0

A round bread roll made with onion and often eaten for breakfast

mixes finely minced vegetable into the dough rather than having larger bits or toppings

onion roll

vsonion bread

1 2.7

A soft bread roll with pieces of onion inside or on top

mixes finely minced vegetable into the dough rather than having pieces

Surface Forms

onion bread singular

onion breads plural

Morphology

onion + bread

The meaning 'bread made with onions' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'onion' (a vegetable) with 'bread' (a baked food); a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the compound refers to bread containing onions. This noun–noun compounding pattern is common and cross-linguistically regular, so the constituent meanings reliably predict the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Onion bread comes from a simple kitchen image: bakers mixed small pieces of onion into the bread dough to give it a savory taste. So, the name means 'bread made with chopped onions'.