batch

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A group of things or people dealt with at the same time.

   The teacher marked the first batch of exam papers tonight.

2. 2
   noun

   An amount of food, especially bread or cakes, baked at one time.

   We made a batch of cookies for the party.

3. 3
   noun

   A set of data processed together by a computer.

   The system handles the requests in batches of fifty.

4. 4
   verb

   To group things together to handle them at the same time.

   I batched the orders so they could all be shipped together.

From Middle English bach, bache, bahche, from Old English *bæċċ (“something baked”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-West Germanic *bakku, from Proto-Germanic *bakkuz (“baking, baked goods”), cognate with Middle High German becke (“something baked, pastry, baking, bakery”). Related also to Old English bacan (“to bake”), Old English ġebæc (“something baked”), Dutch gebak, German Gebäck, Dutch baksel.

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