back and sides of a hog salted and dried or smoked; usually sliced thin and fried
"The breakfast table was crowded with crispy bacon sizzling in the pan."
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)
"Bacon's experiments proved that fire needs oxygen to burn."
English statesman and philosopher; precursor of British empiricism; advocated inductive reasoning (1561-1626)
"Francis Bacon, a renowned English statesman and philosopher who championed inductive reasoning, is widely considered the precursor to British empiricism."
Cured meat from the sides, belly, or back of a pig.
"The sizzling bacon curled up in the pan as it was cured and cooked to perfection."
In plain English: Bacon is strips of salty pork that are usually fried until crispy and eaten as breakfast food.
"I added crispy bacon to my eggs for breakfast this morning."
Usage: Bacon refers to cured pork that is typically sliced and fried as a breakfast staple rather than eaten raw like some other meats. It is distinct from ham because it comes specifically from the fatty parts of the pig such as the side or belly instead of the hind leg.
A surname.
"The Bacon family has lived in that house for three generations."
The word bacon comes from the Old Low Frankish term bakō, meaning "ham" or a strip of lard. It entered English via Anglo-Norman and originally referred specifically to meat taken from the back and sides of a pig before evolving into its current general sense.