bacon
English
Etymology
From Middle English bacon (“meat from the back and sides of a pig”), from Anglo-Norman bacon, bacun (“ham, flitch, strip of lard”), from Old Low Frankish *bakō (“ham, flitch”), from Proto-Germanic *bakô, *bakkô (“back”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhAg- (“back, buttocks”). Cognate with Old High German bahho, bacho (“back, ham, side of bacon”) (compare Alemannic German Bache, Bachen), Old Saxon baco (“back”), Dutch bake (“side of bacon, ham”), Old English bæc (“back”). More at back.
Pronunciation
- enPR: bā'kən, IPA(key): /ˈbeɪ.kən/
- Rhymes: -eɪkən
- Homophone: bakin' (US)
Noun


bacon (usually uncountable, plural bacons)
- Cured meat from the sides, belly, or back of a pig.
- 2006, Pruess, Joanna, Seduced by Bacon, The Lyons Press, →ISBN, page 93:
- They fried the fish with bacon and were astonished, for no fish had ever seemed so delicious before.
- 2009 March 31, Casey, Laura, “Piggin' out on bacon at S.F.'s BaconCamp”, in San Jose Mercury News, retrieved 2010-10-19:
- For us the pig's the means, while bacon is the end / Providing gustatory heights to which we can ascend.
- 2009 August 12, Abraham, Lisa, “Bacon comes home - Old favorite tastes even better when you do the curing yourself”, in Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio, page D1:
- Bacon is something that everybody is familiar with and most people grew up eating. It has a comfort aspect to it and a familiarity. It's also got an addictive aspect to it - that sweet and salty combination of flavors. And it's probably just a little bit unhealthy for you. When you get to have bacon, it's exciting and something you look forward to.
-
- Thin slices of the above in long strips.
- (slang, derogatory) The police or spies.
- Run! It's the bacon!
- (cycling, slang) Road rash.
Usage notes
In the UK, the word bacon on its own usually refers specifically to loin or back bacon (similar to the US Canadian bacon). In the US, bacon usually refers to side or belly bacon (referred to as streaky bacon in the UK).
Derived terms
- a good voice to beg bacon
- bacon and cabbage
- bacon fed
- bacon-faced
- bacon grease
- bacon rind
- bacony
- back bacon
- bring home the bacon
- Canadian bacon
- cottage bacon
- get the bacon bad
- peameal bacon
- Irish bacon
- save someone's bacon
- side bacon
- streaky bacon
- turkey bacon
- whale bacon
Related terms
Descendants
- Finnish: pekoni
Translations
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See also
French
Etymology
1899, "thin, smoked lard", from English bacon, from Middle English bacon (“meat from the back and sides of a pig”), from Old French bacon, bacun (“ham, strip of lard”), from Frankish *bakkō, from Proto-Germanic *bakō, *baką, *bakaz (“back”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhAg- (“back, buttocks”). Cognate with Old High German bahho, bacho (“back, ham, side of bacon”), Old Saxon baco (“back”), Dutch bake (“side of bacon, ham”), Old English bæc (“back”). More at back.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /be.kɔn/, /be.kœn/
audio (France, Paris) (file) audio (France, Paris) (file) audio (France, Normandie) (file)
Further reading
- “bacon” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bɛkon/
Middle English
Norwegian Bokmål
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /beːkən/, /bæjkən/
- Rhymes: -eːkən, -æjkən
Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /beːkən/, /bæjkən/
- Rhymes: -eːkən, -æjkən
Old French
Alternative forms
- bacon, bacun, bacoun
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈbej.kõ/