Etymologically
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bacon

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:52. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈbeɪ.kən/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English bacoun, borrowed from Old French bacon,[2][3][4][5] from Frankish *bako, ham, flitch,[4][6] from Proto-Germanic *bakkon, back meat, source also of Old High German bahho, side of bacon,[3][2] related to back.[4][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Meat from the back and sides of a pig, cured: about 1330.[2][9][3] In early use it could mean fresh as well as cured pork.[7][3]

Semantic evolution

The carcass of a pig is an obsolete sense of about 1380.[9] Bacon was formerly the staple meat of the working class and the rural population, and in Shakespeare bacon is a derisive term for a rustic (1596).[3][9] To save one's bacon, to escape injury, is from 1654.[9] Bring home the bacon, to earn a living or succeed, is recorded by 1906, perhaps from boxing slang.[3][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1330 – bacon.[2][9]
  • c. 1380 – a pig's carcass (obsolete).[9]
  • 1596 – a rustic (obsolete).[9]
  • 1654 – save one's bacon.[9]
  • 1906 – bring home the bacon.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Cured meat from the back or sides of a pig, usually sliced and fried.

Word family

  • baconburger
  • chawbacon
  • back bacon
  • Canadian bacon
  • white bacon
  • back
  • ham
  • pork
  • gammon

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press