From Norman French 'brier' (to knead), from a Germanic root — literally 'the kneaded thing,' despite its dainty reputation.
A light, sweet French bread typically in the form of a small round roll.
From French brioche (an enriched bread, soft and buttery), from Norman French brier (to knead, to work dough vigorously), from a Germanic source related to Old High German brehhan (to break, to knead), from Proto-Germanic *brekanan (to break, to knead), from PIE *bhreg- (to break). Brioche is etymologically the kneaded thing — a bread defined by the vigorous working required to incorporate its unusually high proportion of butter and eggs into the dough. The process of breaking
'Let them eat brioche' — Marie Antoinette never actually said it, and the original French is 'Qu'ils mangent de la brioche,' which Rousseau attributed to 'a great princess' in 1765, when Marie Antoinette was nine years old. And the word 'brioche' itself comes from a Germanic root meaning 'to break' — the same root as English 'break.' Kneading rich dough