kettle

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A container with a lid and handle, used for boiling water.

   Put the kettle on and we'll have a nice cup of tea.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Kettle is an Old English word that goes back ultimately to Latin catinus, “a deep container for cooking or serving food.” It originally referred broadly to any vessel used to heat water over a fire.

From Middle English ketel, also chetel, from Old English ċietel (“kettle, cauldron”) and in Middle English possibly influenced by Old Norse ketill and both from Proto-Germanic *katilaz (“kettle, bucket, vessel”), of uncertain origin and formation. Usually regarded as a borrowing of Late Latin catīllus (“small bowl”), diminutive of Latin catinus (“deep bowl, vessel for cooking up or serving food”), however, the word may be Germanic confused with the Latin: compare Old English cete (“cooking pot”), Old High German chezzi (“a kettle, dish, bowl”), Icelandic kati, ketla (“a small boat”). Cognate w…

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