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The Polish word ''"baba"'' is unusually rich in meanings. In its original Proto-Slavic sense, it refers to a grandmother or, by extension, any elderly womanlady. In old PolandPolish, the same word was used for any peasant woman and is still used to describe a an uncouth, boorish womanhag. Other meanings include "female street vendor", "herbalist", "midwife" and "witch" (as in the most famous Slavic witch, Baba Yaga). A ''"baba"'' may even refer to a married or widowed woman of any age, as in ''"moja baba"'', "my wife". You can use the diminutive form, ''"babka"'', for a young and attractive woman, much like the ''"babà"'' in the Neapolitan dialect of Italian. But don't over do, because if you diminutize the word even further, you'll re gonna get a ''"babcia"'', or "granny".<ref>{{Cyt

In Polish grammar, the plural and genitive form of ''"baba"'' is ''"baby"'' (pronounced ''{{small|BAH}}-bih'', not ''{{small|BAY}}-bee''). You can sometimes see in Poland some half-translated labels, like ''"żel do mycia baby"'', which was probably meant to say "baby -washing gel", but actually says "crone -washing gel". When interwar Poland's top heart-throb Eugeniusz Bodo sang "''ach te baby''" in the 1930s, he wasn't addressing his one and only baby; he meant all women in general. Or did he mean the cakes?

So which of these multiple meanings gave rise to ''"baba"'', the cake? Did the cake use to resemble a [https://www.google.com/search?q=baby+kamienne&tbm=ischpagan isch pagan stone idol,] which is also called ''"baba"'' in Polish? Or does the cake's name come from its resemblance to a peasan't peasant woman's long pleaded skirt? Or perhaps, it comes from the fact that it's always been old women who were most experienced in the tricky art of yeast-cake baking?

After all, baking a beautifuil, tall, airy ''baba'' was one of the most demanding tasks Polish home cooks ever had to face. Great care was needed to prevent the cake from sinking or browning a little too much. A housewife who aimed for the perfect ''baba'' had to start by choosing the best ingredients – high -quality wheat flour, good beer yeast and fresh butter. The oven had to be heated as much as possible, so that it could keep a constant temperature for a long time. The moulds had to be perfectly clean before being filled with dough and popped into the oven. Then came the almost magical practices whose goal was to prevent the ''baba'' from getting "catching a cold " and falling. Doors and windows were sealed to avoid draughts, women walked on their toes and talked in whispers when close to the oven, and finally, the ''baba'' was gently placed on down pillows for cooling. And of course, no men were allowed in the kitchen; the baking of a ''baba'' was a ''baby''-only affaire.<ref>{{Cyt

In any case, the word ''"baba"'' was used in the sense of "yeast cake" at least as early as the 17th century.<ref>{{Cyt