Bake

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /beɪk/

Definitions

1. To cook food using dry heat in an oven or similar appliance ; to become very hot due to exposure to heat, especially from the sun or fire
2. The process of preparing food by heating it inside an enclosed space using dry heat ; to undergo a rise in temperature causing something to feel hot or heated intensely
3. To prepare edible items by applying heat without direct flame inside an oven ; to experience intense warmth or heat as a result of being exposed to high temperatures

Etymology: Long before English had a verb for it, the Indo-European ancestors of the language had a root meaning "to roast or bake," and it survives in unexpected places. Ancient Greek "phṓgō," meaning "roast," is a cousin of "bake," and the same root reaches English through a Germanic line that stayed remarkably stable across the continent: Dutch "bakken," German "backen," and Danish "bage" all mean the same thing. The English form took shape in the Old English period, when "bacan" was in use. Its Middle English descendant "baken" carried the same sense, and the modern spelling "bake" emerged from it. The word's meaning has stayed remarkably focused on dry heat cooking across more than a thousand years of recorded use, which makes it one of the more stable verbs in the language.

Synonyms: cook, roast, broil, toast, heat

Antonyms: raw, freeze, chill, cool, unheat