<p>In short 面包refers to bread(general) and 列巴refers to specifically Russian bread.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-07T15:46:01.377Z
Does 面包 refer to confectionary products as well? Like donuts, pretzels etc.?
MrVocabulary
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2016-11-07T16:32:38.263Z
answer duplicates comment #1, submitted much earlier
user6065
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2016-11-07T16:50:10.887Z
Respectfully, I don't believe it does. While it clearly defines 列巴, 面包 being "just bread" is still in conflict with the images I see while googling – hence my need to narrow it down. My Chinese is still to low to understand the context of the results.
MrVocabulary
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-07T17:41:32.520Z
in fact according to  Wikipedia "Russian bread" is 大列巴, while 列巴 should be considered as merely transliteration of the Russian word, cf. bkrs: 列巴 lièbā рус. хлеб 
大列巴 dàlièbā
хлеб (заимствованное из русского)
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-06T16:41:09.590Z
2016-11-06T16:41:09.590Z
user15732
<p>The ticked answer is correct. </p>

<p>However, it is one of those generalised terms subject to local custom. The actual word of 面包 is actually 麵包.  麵 means something made out of wheat. In general speaking , you may say 列巴 is a kind of 面包. </p>

<p>Historically, only northern China will generalised 列巴  as bread. Southern Chinese and all other Chinese literature have no idea about the Russia bread 列巴 (which the main ingredient is RYE, not wheat) </p>

<p>It is similar to US people in the past generalised facial tissues as Kleenex, photocopy as Xerox.  But outside US, unless exposed to US custom and product, you can't use the generalised terms.</p>

<p>Unless you make a conversation with a person that stay in Northern China many years ago, otherwise, use 面包/ 麵包for bread/loaf.  </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-08T13:50:15.150Z
Okay, this clarifies a bit — 谢谢 :)
MrVocabulary
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2016-11-08T10:46:05.190Z
2016-11-08T13:56:39.327Z
2016-11-08T13:56:39.327Z
mootmoot
<p>What is the difference between 面包 and 列巴? Dictionaries suggest both mean bread, but Google search seems to indicate that 面包 is any kind of baked flour (buns, bread, baguettes, croissants etc.), while 列巴 just means a regular (in the European sense) bread. Is that correct?</p>

<p>I am aware of this thread: <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/1491/how-do-i-say-a-loaf-of-bread">How do I say &quot;a loaf of bread&quot;?</a> but it doesn't fully answer my question.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-06T10:34:24.363Z
"Russian bread"
 bkrs：  列巴  lièbā
рус. хлеб 
 https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E5%A4%A7%E5%88%97%E5%B7%B4  大列巴泛指所有的俄罗斯面包，其中“列巴”是俄语中面包（хлеб）的音译。
user6065
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2016-11-06T16:07:39.823Z
Of course Russians must know the relation between "loaf" and хлеб. ( хлеб loanword from Germanic "hlaf")
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-07T15:45:19.137Z
In that case it's just a Central and Eastern European type of bread, judging by pictures. Btw., I belive it's actually *xlěbъ, from Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz, a much older loan. Хлеб doesn't mean a loaf for centuries now, but the relation is there, indeed.
MrVocabulary
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-07T16:19:23.427Z
see Vasmer's Etymologigal Dictionary:     ORIGIN: Судя по интонации, следует говорить о заимствовании из герм., ср. гот. hlaifs "хлеб", др.-исл. hlėifr -- то же, что более вероятно, чем родство с последними;
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-07T16:43:25.520Z
I stand corrected – I took a look into Derksen and it confirms what you cited. My entire life was a lie.
MrVocabulary
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-08T13:31:07.723Z
作为一个中国人，我居然不造列巴是什么。。。。。。
至少要打三十字么？中文真是省地方。。。
梵高的右耳
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-08T14:30:04.090Z
why do answers make no mention of 大列巴 and apparently claim that 列巴 is the only correct expression, whereas the web has many results even videos for  大列巴. In fact searching web for just 列巴 has for its 2 hits 大列巴 in the headline, no videos for  列巴, also above reference to bkrs
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-08T15:01:14.840Z
I only recently took notice of that. Before I thought 大 wasn't a part of this expression, but it does seem that you need all three characters…
MrVocabulary
<vocabulary>
Difference between 面包 and 列巴
# Difference between 面包 and 列巴

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-11-06)

What is the difference between 面包 and 列巴? Dictionaries suggest both mean bread, but Google search seems to indicate that 面包 is any kind of baked flour (buns, bread, baguettes, croissants etc.), while 列巴 just means a regular (in the European sense) bread. Is that correct?

I am aware of this thread: [How do I say "a loaf of bread"?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/1491/how-do-i-say-a-loaf-of-bread) but it doesn't fully answer my question.

**Tags:** vocabulary

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: "Russian bread"  bkrs：  列巴  lièbā рус. хлеб   https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E5%A4%A7%E5%88%97%E5%B7%B4  大列巴泛指所有的俄罗斯面包，其中“列巴”是俄语中面包（хлеб）的音译。  
> **username_1**: Of course Russians must know the relation between "loaf" and хлеб. ( хлеб loanword from Germanic "hlaf")  
> **username_0**: In that case it's just a Central and Eastern European type of bread, judging by pictures. Btw., I belive it's actually *xlěbъ, from Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz, a much older loan. Хлеб doesn't mean a loaf for centuries now, but the relation is there, indeed.  
> **username_1**: see Vasmer's Etymologigal Dictionary:     ORIGIN: Судя по интонации, следует говорить о заимствовании из герм., ср. гот. hlaifs "хлеб", др.-исл. hlėifr -- то же, что более вероятно, чем родство с последними;  
> **username_0**: I stand corrected – I took a look into Derksen and it confirms what you cited. My entire life was a lie.  
> **username_2**: 作为一个中国人，我居然不造列巴是什么。。。。。。 至少要打三十字么？中文真是省地方。。。  
> **username_1**: why do answers make no mention of 大列巴 and apparently claim that 列巴 is the only correct expression, whereas the web has many results even videos for  大列巴. In fact searching web for just 列巴 has for its 2 hits 大列巴 in the headline, no videos for  列巴, also above reference to bkrs  
> **username_0**: I only recently took notice of that. Before I thought 大 wasn't a part of this expression, but it does seem that you need all three characters…  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2016-11-06. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

In short 面包refers to bread(general) and 列巴refers to specifically Russian bread.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Does 面包 refer to confectionary products as well? Like donuts, pretzels etc.?  
> **username_1**: answer duplicates comment #1, submitted much earlier  
> **username_0**: Respectfully, I don't believe it does. While it clearly defines 列巴, 面包 being "just bread" is still in conflict with the images I see while googling – hence my need to narrow it down. My Chinese is still to low to understand the context of the results.  
> **username_1**: in fact according to  Wikipedia "Russian bread" is 大列巴, while 列巴 should be considered as merely transliteration of the Russian word, cf. bkrs: 列巴 lièbā рус. хлеб  大列巴 dàlièbā хлеб (заимствованное из русского)  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2016-11-08. Score: 1

The ticked answer is correct.

However, it is one of those generalised terms subject to local custom. The actual word of 面包 is actually 麵包. 麵 means something made out of wheat. In general speaking , you may say 列巴 is a kind of 面包.

Historically, only northern China will generalised 列巴 as bread. Southern Chinese and all other Chinese literature have no idea about the Russia bread 列巴 (which the main ingredient is RYE, not wheat)

It is similar to US people in the past generalised facial tissues as Kleenex, photocopy as Xerox. But outside US, unless exposed to US custom and product, you can't use the generalised terms.

Unless you make a conversation with a person that stay in Northern China many years ago, otherwise, use 面包/ 麵包for bread/loaf.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Okay, this clarifies a bit — 谢谢 :)  

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