What does zwieback mean?
Zwieback is a crisp, sweet bread or biscuit made from an enriched dough that is baked twice. The second baking removes moisture, producing a firm, dry texture that is especially useful with coffee, tea, or milk. Zwieback may be eaten plainly, sliced into toast-like pieces, or crushed to form the crust of fruit and cream desserts. Its name comes from German Zwieback, literally “twice-baked bread,” making the word an unusually transparent record of the food’s preparation. Although it reached English from German and is particularly familiar in North America, it is now understood in British English as well. The word is useful because it identifies a specific traditional biscuit rather than merely a generic cookie or cracker, and its etymology neatly captures the practical reason for baking it twice.
nounA crisp, sweet bread or biscuit made from a rich dough that is baked twice, often served with coffee or used as the base for desserts.
- A crisp, sweet bread or biscuit made by baking a dough twice, commonly served with coffee or used in desserts.
"She served coffee with thin slices of zwieback dusted with cinnamon."
"She served coffee with thin slices of zwieback dusted with cinnamon."
"The recipe calls for crushed zwieback as the crust for the berry tart."
Zwieback is a count noun and takes the regular English plural zwiebacks.
"The bakery sells crisp zwiebacks in several varieties."
Its name preserves the recipe: zwieback comes from German for “twice-baked,” describing a biscuit made deliberately crisp.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does zwieback come from?
Zwieback entered English in the mid-19th century from German Zwieback, literally “twice-baked” bread. German zwie is an older form of zwei, meaning “two,” while backen means “to bake”; English twice and two share the first root, and bake is cognate with German backen. The English borrowing retained the German description of the baking method.
How zwieback is actually used
Zwieback is a German loanword now common in English, especially in North America. It is normally counted as a noun, with the regular English plural zwiebacks.