An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Bache

by Friedrich Kluge

Bache, feminine, ‘wild sow,’ from Middle High German bache, Old High German bahho, masculine, ‘ham, (flitch of) bacon' (Swiss and Bavarian bachen); similarly the corresponding Middle Latin baco and Middle Dutch bake mean ‘ham, pork,’ and ‘pig.’ Compare Provençal, Old French, and English bacon, borrowed from German. The Teutonic root bak contained in these cognates is further allied to the cognates of Modern High German Backe.