Etymology
The philologist Johann Christoph Adelung states that the word has an origin in the Germanic vernacular where Pumpen was a New High German synonym for being flatulent, and Nickel was a form of the name Nicholas, commonly associated with a goblin or devil (e.g. "Old Nick", a familiar name for Satan), or more generally for a malevolent spirit or demon. Hence, pumpernickel is described as the "devil's fart," a definition accepted by the Stopes International Language Database, the publisher Random House, and by some English language dictionaries, including the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The American Heritage Dictionary adds "so named from being hard to digest." A variant of this explanation is also given by the German etymological dictionary "Kluge" that says the word pumpernickel is older than its usage for the particular type of bread, and may have been used as a mocking name for a person of unrefined manners ("farting nick") first. The change of meaning may have been caused by its use as a mocking expression for the (in the eyes of outsiders) unrefined rye bread produced by the Westphalian population.
The Oxford English Dictionary does not commit to any particular etymology for the word. It suggests it may mean a lout or booby, but also says "origin uncertain." The OED currently states the first use in English was in 1756.
An incorrect folk etymology involves Napoleon, who, while invading Germany, was served dark German rye bread. He wouldn't eat it and said "C'est pain pour Nicole!"... it was bread for his horse, Nicole. This story allegedly is a hoax perpetrated by a columnist and friends who, when challenged and confronted with evidence to the contrary, confessed to the fabrication. However the contrived "pain pour Nicole" etymology seems to be the most popular in English-speaking countries; it is retold by thousands of sites on the World Wide Web.
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