bacon

¹

[ bey-kuhn ]

noun

1. the back and sides of the hog, salted and dried or smoked, usually sliced thin and fried for food.
2. Also called white bacon. South Midland and Southern U.S. pork cured in brine; salt pork.

Bacon

²

[ bey-kuhn ]

noun

1. Francis Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Albans, 1561–1626, English essayist, philosopher, and statesman.
2. Francis, 1910–92, English painter, born in Ireland.
3. Henry, 1866–1924, U.S. architect.
4. Nathaniel, 1647–76, American colonist, born in England: leader of a rebellion in Virginia 1676.
5. Roger The Admirable Doctor, 1214?–94?, English philosopher and scientist.

bacon

¹

/ ˈbeɪkən /

noun

1. meat from the back and sides of a pig, dried, salted, and usually smoked
2. bring home the bacon informal.
   1. to achieve success
   2. to provide material support
3. save someone's bacon informal.
   to help someone to escape from danger

Bacon

²

/ ˈbeɪkən /

noun

1. BaconFrancis, Viscount St Albans15611626MEnglishPHILOSOPHY: philosopherPOLITICS: statesmanWRITING: essayist Francis , Baron Verulam, Viscount St Albans. 1561–1626, English philosopher, statesman, and essayist; described the inductive method of reasoning: his works include Essays (1625), The Advancement of Learning (1605), and Novum Organum (1620)
2. BaconFrancis19091992MBritishARTS AND CRAFTS: painter Francis . 1909–92, British painter, born in Dublin, noted for his distorted, richly coloured human figures, dogs, and carcasses
3. BaconRoger?12141292MEnglishRELIGION: monkMISC: scholarSCIENCE: scientist Roger . ?1214–92, English Franciscan monk, scholar, and scientist: stressed the importance of experiment, demonstrated that air is required for combustion, and first used lenses to correct vision. His Opus Majus (1266) is a compendium of all the sciences of his age

Bacon

/ bā′kən /

1. English scientist and philosopher who is noted for the wide range of his knowledge and writing on scientific topics. Bacon pioneered the idea that mathematics is fundamental to science and that experimentation is essential to test scientific theories.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bacon¹

1300–50; Middle English bacoun < Anglo-French; Old French bacon < Germanic *bakōn- ( Old High German bacho back, ham, bacon) derivative of *baka- back ¹; compare Middle Dutch bake bacon

Word History and Origins

Origin of bacon¹

C12: from Old French bacon , from Old High German bahho ; related to Old Saxon baco ; see back ¹

Biography

Roger Bacon was something of a Renaissance man before there was a Renaissance. Over the course of his long life, his energetic research would lead him to study everything from languages to mathematics to optics. He is most remembered for his insistence on the importance of pursuing fruitful lines of scientific research through experimentation. His writings describe countless experiments; while the majority were probably never performed by him, the profusion alone of experimental ideas is nothing short of astounding. His own laboratory work dealt primarily with alchemy, optics, and mechanics. He was among the first to apply geometric and mathematical principles to problems in optics and the behavior of light, allowing him to make important observations on reflection and refraction. His interest in mechanics led him to describe flying machines and other devices that had not yet been invented. He was the first person in the West to come up with a recipe for gunpowder, and he suggested reforms to the calendar, which would ultimately be implemented hundreds of years later. His novel ways of pursuing knowledge were sometimes viewed with suspicion, resulting at one time in imprisonment; but he bravely resisted all strictures on his intellectual life, even when that meant having to write and work in secret.

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. bring home the bacon,
   1. to provide for material needs; earn a living.
   2. to accomplish a task; be successful or victorious:

      Our governor went to Washington to appeal for disaster relief and brought home the bacon—$40 million.

2. save one's bacon, Informal. to allow one to accomplish a desired end; spare one from injury or loss:

   Quick thinking saved our bacon.

More idioms and phrases containing bacon

see bring home the bacon ; save one's bacon .

Example Sentences

My freezer was so full, I couldn’t have slid in a pound of bacon.”

From Los Angeles Times

"But even if I end up doing nothing more than making bacon sarnies and playing a few gigs with my band, that's fine by me. Happy days," he said.

From BBC

“He had a whole pizza, a bacon burger and a sandwich. Three entrees. It was crazy,” Nichols said.

From Los Angeles Times

A couple of weeks after returning from Paris, over a late breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon at a cafe near his South Bay home, Krikorian acknowledged the two losses still haunt him.

From Los Angeles Times

The real secret, though, is rendered bacon fat, which is unsurprising since Harris has said before she thinks “bacon is a spice.”

From Salon

Related Words

• pancetta
• pork