Word

κλάω

kláō · G2806 · Greek · 14 occurrences

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Meanings

to break, to break bread

To break an object into two or more parts (in the NT κλάω and κλάσις are used exclusively for breaking bread)

Examples
Matthew 14:19 And ordering the crowds to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He blessed the food and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
Matthew 15:36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
Matthew 26:26 Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
to eat a meal, to have a meal

(An idiom, literally: to break bread) To eat a meal, without reference to any particular time of the day or to the type of food involved

Examples
Acts 2:46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.
Acts 20:11 When Paul had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.

How it’s used In 5 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Who or what does itSubject

14 occurrences in 6 groups

Not stated: he, she or it 5
Not stated (participle) 5
ἸησοῦςJesus 1
Not stated: we 1
Not stated: I 1
Not stated (infinitive) 1

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

6 occurrences in 2 groups

ἄρτοςbread, loaf 5
ὅςwho, which, that 1

To or for whomIndirect object

2 occurrences in 2 groups

μαθητήςdisciple 1
αὐτόςhe, she, it, same 1

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

2 occurrences in 2 groups

εἰςto+ πεντακισχίλιοιfive thousand 1
κατάaccording to, against, down+ οἶκοςhouse, household 1

Named alongside itApposition

1 occurrences in 1 groups

ἄρτοςbread, loaf 1

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Semantic domains 2 entries

To break, to break bread19.34: κλάω describes the act of breaking, especially bread at a meal. Luke 22:19 recounts the Last Supper, where Jesus “had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them,” His κλάω being this specific breaking of the bread.
To eat a meal, to have a meal23.20: The same verb, used within the set phrase of breaking bread, can denote the taking of a meal itself. Acts 20:11 recounts that after raising Eutychus, Paul “had broken the bread and eaten,” his κλάω here marking the shared meal that followed, not merely the physical breaking of a loaf.

Word family 7 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

κλάωkláō · G2806κλάδος kládos · G2798 · branch (of a tree or woody shrub) · 11×κλάσμα klásma · G2801 · fragment, piece · 9×κλῆμα klēma · G2814 · branch (principally of grapevines) · 4×ἐκκλάω ekkláō · G1575 · to break off · 3×κατακλάω katakláō · G2622 · to break into pieces · 2×κλάσις klásis · G2800 · to break, to break bread · 2×

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon 1 aorist ἔκλασα; passive (present participle κλώμενος, 1 Cor 11:24 R G (see below)); 1…

1 aorist ἔκλασα; passive (present participle κλώμενος, 1 Cor 11:24 R G (see below)); 1 aorist ἐκλασθην (Rom 11:20 L Tr); (from Homer down); to break: used in the N. T. of the breaking of bread (see ἄρτος, 1), Mt 14:19; Mt 15:36; Mt 26:26; Mk 8:6; Mk 14:22; Lk 22:19; (); Acts 2:46; Acts 20:7, Acts 20:11; Acts 27:35; 1 Cor 10:16; 1 Cor 11:24; with εἰς τινας added, a pregnant construction, equivalent to 'to break and distribute among' etc. (see εἰς, C. 1), Mk 8:19; metaphorically, τό σῶμα, shattered, as it were, by a violent death, 1 Cor 11:21 R G. (Compare: ἐκκλάω, κατακλάω.)

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain

Topical studies with this word 2 entries

Break, Break Through11 occurrences Eat, Drink3 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0