bacon Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun back and sides of a hog salted and dried or smoked; usually sliced thin and fried
  2. noun English scientist and Franciscan monk who stressed the importance of experimentation; first showed that air is required for combustion and first used lenses to correct vision (1220-1292)
    Roger Bacon.
  3. noun English statesman and philosopher; precursor of British empiricism; advocated inductive reasoning (1561-1626)
    1st Baron Verulam; Sir Francis Bacon; Baron Verulam; Viscount St. Albans; Francis Bacon.

WordNet

Ba"con noun
Etymology
OF. bacon, fr. OHG. bacho, bahho, flitch of bacon, ham; akin to E. back. Cf. Back the back side.
Definitions
  1. The back and sides of a pig salted and smoked; formerly, the flesh of a pig salted or fresh.

Webster 1913