On Latin bacar

This paper examines the Latin word bacar, which is said by ancient glossaries to denote a type of wine vessel similar to a bacrio. Variants such as bacario/ bacarium further reinforce the association with wine containers. The discussion then turns to the etymological relationship between bacar and ba(c)ca, a term cited by Varro as a Hispanic word for ‘wine’. In this connection, particular attention is paid to the potential link between bacar and the Iberian word baikar, as suggested by their phonetic resemblance. Significantly, baikar is attested exclusively on small drinking vessels. Taken together, the information from Latin sources regarding the Hispanic origin of ba(c)ca ‘wine’ and the semantic appropriateness of bacar ‘wine vessel’ in relation to the attestations of Iberian baikar support the idea that all these words ultimately belong together