bake Bake [OE] and batch [LME], first recorded in the sense ‘the process of baking’, both go back to the same Germanic root. Baker’s dozen meaning ‘thirteen’ arose in the 16th century. It was a traditional bakers’ practice to add an extra loaf to every dozen sold to a shopkeeper—this extra, thirteenth loaf was the source of the retailer’s profit when the loaves were sold on to customers.