bread breaking
Dividing a loaf
Bread breaking is the act of sharing a meal, emphasizing fellowship and communion rather than the food itself.
The phrase evokes the ancient gesture of tearing bread to distribute among companions: The summit provided an opportunity for bread breaking between longtime rivals.
In Christian contexts, it refers specifically to the Eucharist or communion ritual.
Also appears as the compound *breaking bread*.
- communionProfound shared closeness
- fellowshipMutual goodwill among companions
- sharingDividing among others
- EucharistSacramental bread and wine
- loafBaked bread shape
crumbs · tearing · crust · meal · gathering · communion table · hospitality · table · blessing · give thanks · sacrament · supper · unleavened · disciples · ceremony · fractured · torn · divide
- dining etiquettetable manners, chewing quietly, elbows off table, proper posture, knife skills
- family dinnersupper, dinner, Sunday dinner, Thanksgiving dinner, family dinner
- foodwaysfood rituals, food taboos, blessing food, table manners, dining etiquette
- table mannerstable manners, napkin folding, chewing quietly, elbows off table, proper posture
- ritual gesturesgenuflect, genuflection, prostration, bowing, kneeling
- EucharistBlessed Sacrament, Holy Communion, Real Presence, communion wafer, communion wine
bread breakingeating alone
Consuming food unaccompanied
isolation · loneliness · estrangement · alienation · seclusion
bread breakingturning away
Redirecting oneself elsewhere
inhospitality · exclusion · estrangement · shunning · ostracism
bread breakingexcommunication
Formal barring from sacraments
anathema · profanation · desecration · sacrilege · spiritual exile
bread, breaking, breads, breaded, breading, breadwinner, breadcrumb, break, breaks