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Sandwich

2 stages from Old English to English.

Today it means two pieces of bread with a filling between them

Where does the word "sandwich" come from? It comes from Old English Sandwīc, adopted directly into English (1762).

1
Stage 1 of 2
Sandwīc
Old English · medieval
"a Kent town"
'sandy harbour', a Kent port that became one of the Cinque Ports supplying ships to the crown
2
Stage 2 of 2
sandwich
English · 1762
"meat between slices of bread"
named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich; Edward Gibbon's journal for 24 November 1762 records gentlemen at a London club eating 'a bit of cold meat, or a Sandwich', while the story that the earl ate them at the gambling table comes from a 1765 French travel book and may be gossip
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Sandwich’s story begins in Old English: Sandwīc meant “a Kent town.” 'sandy harbour', a Kent port that became one of the Cinque Ports supplying ships to the crown. It reached English by 1762 as sandwich. Named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich; Edward Gibbon's journal for 24 November 1762 records gentlemen at a London club eating 'a bit of cold meat, or a Sandwich', while the story that the earl ate them at the gambling table comes from a 1765 French travel book and may be gossip. Today, sandwich means two pieces of bread with a filling between them.