bacán

See also: bacan, bacàn, băcan, and Băcan

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish baccán, diminutive of Old Irish bacc (“angle”). By surface analysis, bac (“hindrance, barrier”) +‎ -án.

Pronunciation

• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈbˠukɑːnˠ/, /ˈbˠukɑːn̪ˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈbˠakanˠ/, /ˈbˠakan̪ˠ/

Noun

bacán m (genitive singular bacáin, nominative plural bacáin)

1. crook (bend, curve)
2. hook, peg

Declension

Declension of bacán (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative bacán bacáin vocative a bhacáin a bhacána genitive bacáin bacán dative bacán bacáin forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an bacán na bacáin genitive an bhacáin na mbacán dative leis an mbacán don bhacán leis na bacáin

Derived terms

• bacán agus inse (“hook and hinge”)
• bacán amuigh m (“outrigger”)
• bacán binse m (“bench stop”)
• bacán brád m (“collar-bone”)
• bacán ceangail m (“belaying-pin”)
• bacán cromáin m (“crank-arm”)
• bacán hata m (“hat-peg”)
• bacán inse m (“hinge-pin”)
• bacán láimhe m (“upper arm”)
• bacán láir m (“centre pin”)
• bacán téide m (“tethering post”)
• bacánach (“crooked, hinged”, adjective)

Mutation

Mutated forms of bacán

radical	lenition	eclipsis
bacán	bhacán	mbacán

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bacán”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “bacán”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “bacán”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baˈkan/ [baˈkãn]
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: ba‧cán

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Ligurian bacan (“boss, captain”), from Turkish bakan (“minister”).

Noun

bacán m (plural bacanes)

1. (colloquial, Uruguay) sugar daddy
2. (colloquial, Rioplatense) pimp
3. (colloquial, dated, Rioplatense) boss, owner
4. (colloquial, dated, Rioplatense) concubine
5. (colloquial, Bolivia, Cuba, Colombia, Rioplatense) wealthy person
6. (colloquial, Cuba) a homosexual man
7. (colloquial, Cuba) a kept man

Etymology 2

Noun

bacán m (plural bacanes)

1. (Cuba) A pastry made with pork meat, tomatoes and capsicum, covered with banana leaves.

Adjective

bacán (feminine bacana, masculine plural bacanes, feminine plural bacanas)

1. (colloquial, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Cuba) cool, awesome

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:guay

2. (colloquial, Rioplatense) posh, snobbish
3. (colloquial, Rioplatense, Cuba, of a place) frequented by wealthy people; fancy; upscale
4. (colloquial, Rioplatense, Cuba) luxurious, refined
5. (colloquial, Peru, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Cuba) attractive

Further reading

• “bacán”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
• “bacán”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• DiPerú | Diccionario de peruanismos en línea