gridiron

C2+ Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˈɡrɪdˌaɪərn/ UK /ˈɡrɪdaɪən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a framework of metal bars for grilling food, or an American football field

The steaks sizzled on the gridiron over glowing coals.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a framework of metal bars... grill grate grating barbecue

Word family

Related forms gridgriddlegrille

Simplified etymology

Gridiron dates from Middle English and belongs to the family of words ultimately associated with Latin cratis, “hurdle.” The later word grid was formed from it by back-formation.

Etymology

From Middle English gredire, an alteration of gridire, itself a variant of Middle English gredil ('griddle'), from Old French gredil, from Latin craticula ('small grill'); the second element was reshaped by folk etymology toward iron.

craticula Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink

External links

# gridiron

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɡrɪdˌaɪərn/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɡrɪdaɪən/

## Meanings
1. a framework of metal bars for grilling food, or an American football field

## Examples
- The steaks sizzled on the gridiron over glowing coals.

## Synonyms
- grill
- grate
- grating
- barbecue

## Related Forms
- grid
- griddle
- grille

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: craticula

## Etymology
From Middle English gredire, an alteration of gridire, itself a variant of Middle English gredil ('griddle'), from Old French gredil, from Latin craticula ('small grill'); the second element was reshaped by folk etymology toward iron.

## AI Etymology
Gridiron is from Middle English gredire, an alteration of gridire, itself a variant of Middle English gredil ('griddle'), from Old French gredil, from Latin craticula ('small grill'); the second element was reshaped by folk etymology toward iron. Important recorded forms include craticula (Latin). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers a framework of metal bars for grilling food, or an American football field. The wider family includes related words such as grid, griddle, and grille.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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