flitch

Meanings

Noun

• The flank or side of an animal, now almost exclusively a pig when cured and salted; a side of bacon.
• A piece or strip cut off of something else, generally a piece of wood (timber).

Verb

• To cut into, or off in, flitches or strips.

Origin

• From Middle English flicche, from Old English fliċċe ("side of an animal, flitch"), from Proto-Germanic *flikkiją ("side, flitch"), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁ḱ- ("to tear, peel off"). Cognate with Low German flikke, French flèche, Icelandic flikki ("flitch"), Middle Low German vlicke.