Groups of things or people dealt with as units; quantities of material produced at one time or processed together.
From Middle English 'bache', possibly from Old English 'bacan' (to bake). Originally referred to the amount of bread baked at one time. The meaning expanded to include any group of items processed or produced together.
The word batch comes from baking - it originally meant all the loaves baked together in one oven session. This humble origin connects to today's computer 'batch processing' and manufacturing 'batch production', showing how baking metaphors shape our understanding of organized work.
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