Bacon
/ˈbeɪ.kən/noun
Salt-cured meat from the sides or back of a pig.
Did you know?The word goes back to a Germanic root meaning the back or buttock, and the same root also gave English words like buttock and butt, making bacon literally a “back” cut in the oldest sense.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*bakkō / *baką
“back; rear part of the body”
Old High German
OHG
bacho
“back, ham”
Old French
OF
bacun
“ham, bacon”
Middle English
English
bacoun
“cured meat, especially pork”
Modern English
English
bacon
“salt-cured pork”