Going back at least to the early seventeenth century in Poland, bagels were given as presents to women who had just given birth; this doughy gift nourished the exhausted mother, but the shape of the bagel—a yonic ring—may also have represented the cycle of life newly embodied by mother and child. The name of this bun did not enter English until 1932 when it was adopted from Yiddish. In turn, the Yiddish word, beygel, developed from the German beugel, a diminutive of boug, meaning bracelet.
A bagel is a type of bread roll that has a round, ring-shaped appearance and a dense, chewy texture. To prepare bagels, the dough is allowed to rise and then briefly boiled in water before being baked. This gives bagels their distinctive texture and flavor. Bagels are often associated with Jewish cuisine and are commonly served with lox (smoked salmon) and cream cheese as a popular snack or breakfast dish.