Loaf

: loaves) is a (usually) rounded or oblong quantity of food, typically and originally of bread.

[3] More viscous doughs can be hand-molded into the desired loaf shape and cooked on a flat oven tray.

Many kinds of mass-produced bread are distinctly squared, with well-defined corners on the bottom of the loaf.

Loaves of rectangular shape can be made more or less identical, and can be packed and shipped efficiently.

[5] Old Norse hleifr, Swedish lev, Old Frisian hlef, Gothic hlaifs, Old High German hleib and modern German Laib derive from this Proto-Germanic word, which was also borrowed into Slavic (Polish chleb, Russian khleb) and Finnic (Finnish leipä, Estonian leib) languages as well.