breadwinner C2 Topic:People & Society US /ˈbɹɛdˌwɪnɚ/ See IPA manual Freq #37539 Meanings 1 noun The person whose earnings are the main source of income for a household. After his father fell ill, he became the family's only breadwinner. Thesaurus Word family Forms breadwinners Etymology AI details From bread + winner, where to win = to earn. Compare West Frisian breawinning (“livelihood”, literally “bread-winning”), Dutch broodwinning (“livelihood”). Topics People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # breadwinner **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈbɹɛdˌwɪnɚ/ **Frequency rank:** 37539 ## Meanings 1. The person whose earnings are the main source of income for a household. ## Examples - After his father fell ill, he became the family's only breadwinner. ## Etymology From bread + winner, where to win = to earn. Compare West Frisian breawinning (“livelihood”, literally “bread-winning”), Dutch broodwinning (“livelihood”). ## AI Etymology Breadwinner is from bread + winner, where to win = to earn. Compare West Frisian breawinning (“livelihood”, literally “bread-winning”), Dutch broodwinning (“livelihood”). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. Current senses include the person whose earnings are the main source of income for a household. ## Topics - People & Society - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown