Plural of baba; a rich sweet bread or cake soaked in rum or fruit syrup, or the plural form of a baba skirt (a gathered skirt style).
From Polish 'baba' (woman/grandmother), the cake was traditionally associated with Polish and Jewish cuisine. The fashion term comes from 'baba' skirt, a 1950s style. Both senses show how words migrate between culinary and fashion contexts.
The baba cake and babka bread are almost the same thing—they're delicious evidence of how Jewish, Polish, and Ukrainian cuisines borrowed from each other for centuries in Eastern Europe, creating confusion even among food historians.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.