Flitch

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /flɪtʃ/

Definitions

1. This term refers to a side portion of cured meat such as bacon, a section of wood cut from a log, and sometimes an irrigational trench used in agriculture
2. Referring to a slab of cured pork, a wooden slice derived from a larger log, or a narrow drainage channel used to manage water flow in farming practices
3. A cut of cured pork from the side of an animal; a piece of timber sliced from a larger log; a long, narrow ditch for controlling surface water on farmland

Etymology: The side of a pig, cured into bacon, has been called a flitch since Old English, when "fliċċe" meant the flank or side of an animal. The word traces back to a Proto-Germanic form meaning "side," and further to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to tear" or "peel off," which hints at the idea of a piece stripped away from the whole. The same word covers other sides as well. A flitch can be a slab cut from the flank of a log, and historically it was also used for a trench dug to carry water across farmland, though that sense is now rare. Its relatives in neighboring languages keep the core idea: Low German has "flikke," Icelandic "flikki," and French "flèche," which also means arrow and reflects a different branch of the same root.

Synonyms: slice, piece, section, cut, segment