What does flitch mean?
A flitch is a side of cured pork — essentially half a pig's back and belly treated as one piece — most familiar as a whole side of bacon. The word belongs chiefly to older rural and culinary vocabulary, though it survives in butchery and in food history. It gained lasting fame through the medieval 'Dunmow flitch' custom, in which couples who could swear before a court that they had lived a year together without quarrelling were rewarded with a flitch of bacon; the trial inspired Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale material and remains re-enacted at Great Dunmow in Essex every few years. Separately, in structural engineering a flitch is one of the timber plates bolted face-to-face with a steel plate to form a composite 'flitch beam', a common way to stiffen wooden joists. The word thus bridges two very different worlds: the smokehouse and the builder's yard, giving it a rustic charm alongside genuine technical currency.
A side of cured pork, especially bacon, cured as one piece.
"He sliced thin rashers from the flitch hanging in the larder."
In carpentry and structural engineering, one of the timber plates bolted to the sides of a steel plate or beam to create a stronger composite member (a flitch beam).
"The engineer specified three timber flitches sandwiching a steel plate for the new lintel."
This technical sense is largely confined to building and engineering contexts.
Standard pluralisation applies; 'flitches' refers to multiple sides of bacon or multiple timber plates.
"The smokehouse was stocked with several flitches ready for winter."
In medieval England, couples who could swear they'd lived a year in perfect harmony won a whole flitch of bacon — very few ever claimed it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of flitch
Flitch derives from Old English flicce, meaning a side or flank of pork, and has Germanic origins. It is related to Old Norse flekki, meaning a slab or flake, reflecting a shared Germanic root concerning flat pieces cut from a larger whole. The word has been in continuous use in English since at least the early medieval period, particularly in connection with curing sides of bacon.
Related word forms
How flitch is actually used
Mostly encountered today in historical, culinary, or specialist engineering contexts. The carpentry sense appears mainly in structural design discussions of flitch beams. The word carries an old-fashioned, rustic connotation.
Easily confused with flitch
Flinch is a verb meaning to draw back suddenly in fear or pain, whereas flitch is a noun for a side of cured pork.