bacon

/ˈbeɪ.kən/

//ˈbeɪ.kən// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bacon" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bacon” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,573. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,573
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Cured meat from the sides, belly, or back of a pig.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bacon · bacon · English

bacon · rank #5,573 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,573
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH appearing

Nearest frequency peer: appearing (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “bacon”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “bacon” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bacon vs ban
60% similar
bacon vs BON
0% similar
bacon vs bao
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bacon
PropertyValue
Headwordbacon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbeɪ.kən/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,573
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bacon”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).baconlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “appearing” (#5,572), “barrier” (#5,574), “AKA” (#5,571). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bacon” is #5,573. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around bacon (IPA /ˈbeɪ.kən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,573 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for bacon, with forms such as "abcon", "baccon", and "bacno". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ban", "BON", "bao", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bacoun (“meat from the back and sides of a pig”), from Anglo-Norman bacon, bacun (“ham, flitch, strip of lard”), from Old Low Frankish *bakō (“ham, flitch”), from Proto-Germanic *bakô, *bakkô (“back”), an extension of *baką, whence Engli… The correct English form is bacon, spelled B-A-C-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Cured meat from the sides, belly, or back of a pig.
  2. 2
    Cured meat from the sides, belly, or back of a pig.
  3. 3
    Thin slices of the above in long strips.
  4. 4
    The police or spies.
  5. 5
    Road rash.
  6. 6
    A saucisse.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bacon appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. They fried the fish with bacon and were astonished, for no fish had ever seemed so delicious before.
  2. It is not a crime to enjoy some bacon or a trout or what have you.

Etymology

From Middle English bacoun (“meat from the back and sides of a pig”), from Anglo-Norman bacon, bacun (“ham, flitch, strip of lard”), from Old Low Frankish *bakō (“ham, flitch”), from Proto-Germanic *bakô, *bakkô (“back”), an extension of *baką, whence English back, which see for more. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“back, buttocks; to vault, arch”). Cognate with Old Saxon baco (“back”), Dutch bake (“ham, side of bacon”), Old High German bahho (“ham, side of bacon”), whence German Bache f (“wild sow”), Alemannic German Bache m (“bacon”). (police): Extension of pig (“police”).

Synonyms

hampork

This word in other languages

tocino(Español)lard(Français)Speck(Deutsch)bacon(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abcon
  • baccon
  • bacno
  • baconn
  • baocn
  • bbacon
  • bcaon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bacon - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

abcon2baccon1bacno2baconn1baocn2bbacon1bcaon2
Edit distance from "bacon"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bacon"?
"bacon" is spelled B-A-C-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbeɪ.kən/.
What does "bacon" mean?
As a noun, "bacon" means: Cured meat from the sides, belly, or back of a pig.
What words are commonly confused with "bacon"?
"bacon" is commonly confused with "ban", "BON", "bao". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bacon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bacon" is /ˈbeɪ.kən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bacon"?
From Middle English bacoun (“meat from the back and sides of a pig”), from Anglo-Norman bacon, bacun (“ham, flitch, strip of lard”), from Old Low Frankish *bakō (“ham, flitch”), from Proto-Germanic *bakô, *bakkô (“back”), an extension of *baką, wh... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bacon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bombs#5,578burst#5,579yield#5,567vocal#5,563

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

cattle7 variantsshade7 variantshates7 variantsreact7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list