An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/backen
backen, verb (dialectic Upper German bachen), ‘to bake,’ from Middle High German backen, bachen, strong verb; doublets are found even in Old High German bacchan, bahhan, strong verbs; Old High German cch is based upon the double consonants kk (Old Saxon bakkeri, ‘baker,’ Dutch bakken, ‘to bake’); but ch presupposes a simple k. Compare Anglo-Saxon bacan, strong verb, English to bake, as well as English batch, from Middle English bacche, Anglo-Saxon *bäcce, where cc points to the ck of the Modern High German word. Whether a Gothic *bakkan or *baqan, strong verb must be presupposed is uncertain; the pre-Teutonic form of the verbal root is Aryan bhō̆g, as is shown by its primitive kinship to Greek φώγω, ‘I roast’; the affinity of Latin fŏcus, ‘hearth,’ is doubtful.