Panera is a portmanteau of the words "pan" and "era."

According to Panera's Facebook page, the sandwich chain's name "has Latin and Spanish roots."

In Spanish, "pan" means bread and "era" means age or time. So put together, Panera means "age of bread."

Ron Shaich, the founder of Panera, also told Fortune the name comes from the Latin word for breadbasket.