baker

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbeɪ.kə/ (UK); /ˈbeɪ.kɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English bæcere (“baker”), an agent noun from bacan (“to bake”) (see bake) and -er.^[2][3][4][5] It is cognate with Dutch bakker and German Bäcker.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who bakes, especially one whose trade is making bread: before 1000 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages the craft had two divisions, brown bakers and white bakers, with rules about which breads each could bake.^[2] A baker's dozen, thirteen, is from 1599, perhaps from bakers adding an extra loaf to avoid being fined for short weight.^[6] A small portable tin oven is a baker in the US (1841).^[6] Baker was the first two-syllable word in old spelling books, so to spell baker meant to try something difficult.^[2] In Irish English on the baker's list means in good health.^[7] In western and Midland dialect a baker is a potato or apple good for baking.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1000 – a baker.^[6]
• 1599 – baker's dozen.^[6]
• 1841 – a portable oven.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who makes and sells bread, cakes and the like.
2. (US) A small portable oven.

Word family

• bakerlike
• bakery
• baker's dozen

Related words

• bake
• batch

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)