An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Bake

by Friedrich Kluge

Bake, feminine, ‘a mark at the entrance of a harbour as a warning against shallows, buoy’; from Frisian like other technical terms relating to the sea, Frisian bâken (compare Back), whence Low German bâke, Dutch baak. It is based upon Gothic *baukn, neuter, which by a regular change became beácen, ‘beacon,’ in Anglo-Saxon; compare English beacon and beckon. Old High German bouhhan, Middle High German bouchen, Old Low German bôcan, ‘beacon, model,’ are corresponding terms. Thus the Old Teutonic word meant generally ‘sign.’ Bake has been restricted to a definite caution signal.