bacon English · revision 7447

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1330|origins=frk *bakkō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbeɪ.kən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English bacoun, [[bor|fro|bacon]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from Frankish *bako, ham, flitch,^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) from Proto-Germanic *bakkon, back meat, source also of Old High German bahho, side of bacon,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to [[back]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Meat from the back and sides of a pig, cured: about 1330.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In early use it could mean fresh as well as cured pork.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The carcass of a pig is an obsolete sense of about 1380.^(OED 1989) 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).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''To save one's bacon'', to escape injury, is from 1654.^(OED 1989) ''Bring home the bacon'', to earn a living or succeed, is recorded by 1906, perhaps from boxing slang.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1330 – bacon.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1380 – a pig's carcass (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1596 – a rustic (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1654 – save one's bacon.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1906 – bring home the bacon.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Cured meat from the back or sides of a [[pig]], usually sliced and fried.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[baconburger]]

+ * [[chawbacon]]

+ * [[back bacon]]

+ * [[Canadian bacon]]

+ * [[white bacon]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[back]]

+ * [[ham]]

+ * [[pork]]

+ * [[gammon]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}