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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

bacán m (plural bacanes)

1. (colloquial, Argentina, Uruguay) pimp
2. (colloquial, dated, Argentina, Uruguay) boss, owner
3. (colloquial, dated, Argentina, Uruguay) concubine
4. (colloquial, dated, Argentina, Uruguay) lover of a kept woman

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, Argentina, Uruguay) posh
3. (colloquial, Argentina, Uruguay) snobbish
4. (colloquial, Argentina, Uruguay) luxurious, refined

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