Jump to content

An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Back

From Wikisource
An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, B (1891)
by Friedrich Kluge, translated by John Francis Davis
Back
Friedrich Kluge2505794An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, B — Back1891John Francis Davis

Back, n., ‘a deep wooden dish, in which food is served for a certain number of the crew’; borrowed, like many technical terms of sea-life, from LG.; LG. back, ‘dish,’ E. back (‘tub, vat’); comp. ModFr. bac, ‘brewer’s vat or tub,’ borrowed from this word or the Du. bak. It has been derived from Late Lat. bacca, ‘water vessel,’ whence also Fr. bac, ‘ferryboat,’ Du. bak, E. bac, ‘a flat-bottomed boat.’ Probably Becken is allied to it.