Word.ws English Dictionary

pumpernickel

US/ˈpʌmpɚˌnɪkl̩/

pumpernickel noun: a German sourdough bread made from rye.

pumpernickel: a German sourdough bread made from rye
Image: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

pumpernickel (countable and uncountable, plural pumpernickels)

  1. A German sourdough bread made from rye.
    • There was a cut-crystal pitcher full of water, a basket of fruit, and a big loaf of pumpernickel for them to eat.2016, Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, Fleet (2017), page 309

Synonyms of pumpernickel

Forms of pumpernickel

pluralpumpernickels

Origin of pumpernickel

From Westphalian German Pumpernickel, from Pumper (“fart”) (or a related form, such as pumpern) and Nickel (“rascal”) (from the male name Nikolaus (“Nicholas”)), possibly originating as an insult for a person or for the bread itself by outsiders. A false folk etymology claims that this comes from the phrase pain pour Nicole ("bread for Nicole"), referring to Napoleon disliking the taste so much that he thought it was fit for his horse Nicole.

Phrases with pumpernickel

Questions about pumpernickel

What does pumpernickel mean?
Pumpernickel means a German sourdough bread made from rye.
What part of speech is pumpernickel?
Pumpernickel is a noun.
How do you pronounce pumpernickel?
Pumpernickel is pronounced /ˈpʌmpɚˌnɪkl̩/ (US).
What is the plural of pumpernickel?
The plural of pumpernickel is pumpernickels.

Words near pumpernickel in the dictionary

  1. pumpellyites
  2. pumpelmous
  3. pumpelmouses
  4. Pumpenbil
  5. pumper
  6. pumpernickel
  7. pumpernickel bread
  8. pumpernickel breads
  9. pumpernickels
  10. pumpers
  11. pumpets

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pumpernickel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “pumpernickel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pumpernickel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.