the.com/breakfast
The meal that admits you were unconscious for hours and did nothing about it.
means The first meal of the day, eaten to end the night's fast.
from Literally 'break' + 'fast' — you fast all night while sleeping, and the morning meal breaks that fast. The word fused into one in the 15th century, though the idea (and the compound logic) is far older than the specific spelling.
- word math
- break plus fast, no metaphor intended
- skipping it
- was once a sign of piety, not laziness
- cereal origin
- invented partly to curb Victorian urges, seriously
- royal version
- medieval nobles ate breakfast standing, barely pausing