Bavarian can either

• when used as an adjective, refer to the German state of Bavaria; or
• refer to the Bavarian or Austro-Bavarian language, a group of closely related dialects spoken in parts of Bavaria, most of Austria and the South Tyrol.
• Bavarian cream - a custard sauce.

In German, the two usages are distinguished orthographically, with bay(e)risch referring to the state and Bairisch referring to the language.