Posted by:
robert (---.syd.ops.aspac.uu.net)
In O.E. gingerbrar dates from 1299 and is from the O.F. ginginbrat and meant "preserved ginger". "Bread" in various forms such as brot, brede, etc dates earlier than this and meant any "piece of food".
Common or folk usage had come into play by 1352 and gingerbrar had become "gingerbread" by aural association. It meant any piece of gingered food at this time, and a specific meaning of "spiced cake" does not arise until the 15th Century. The further refinement to a spiced biscuit does not come until relatively recently.
So, depending on how old the story of the gingerbread man is, he is probably cake rather than biscuit but could be anything, even a bit of meat spiced with ginger.