bacë

See also: bace

Albanian

Svane suggests a borrowing from Serbo-Croatian baca, a children's pronunciation of braca (“older brother”).
Meyer and Çabej link it to baç (“head shepherd”) (compare baci).^[1]
Another possible source is Turkish bacı (“sister”).^[2]
Orel considers it an inherited word from Proto-Albanian *batja, related to Proto-Slavic *baťa (see Serbo-Croatian baća (“father, brother, ancestor”) and Proto-Slavic *batę (“older brother, daddy”); he argues that the Albanian word was borrowed into Romanian and Megleno-Romanian baci, whence it was borrowed into Serbo-Croatian and Hungarian.^[3]

bacë m (plural baca, definite baca, definite plural bacat)

honorific or endearing word for (male) family members; such as older brother, uncle, cousin or another respected, older male
(regional) honorific or endearing for father
honorific or endearing for an unrelated/foreign older male (cf. english "aunty/uncle")

^ Omari, Anila (2012), “bacë”, in Marrëdhëniet Gjuhësore Shqiptaro-Serbe [Albanian-Serbian Linguistic Relations] (in Albanian), Tirana, Albania: Krishtalina KH, →ISBN, page 96
^ Topalli, Kolec (2017), “bacë”, in Fjalor Etimologjik i Gjuhës Shqipe [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in Albanian), Durrës, Albania: Jozef, page 153
^ Orel, Vladimir (1998), “bacë”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden; Boston; Cologne: Brill, →ISBN, page 13