teat

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the projecting part of a mammary gland through which milk is drawn by a young mammal

   Each calf quickly found a teat and began to nurse.

2. 2
   noun

   an artificial nipple fitted to a bottle for feeding an infant or young animal

   The caregiver sterilized the bottle and teat after every feeding.

3. 3
   noun

   a small projecting nozzle or part resembling a mammary teat

   The liquid flowed through a rubber teat at the end of the tube.

Simplified etymology

Teat entered English in the Middle Ages and shares its root with Old English tit, meaning “teat” or “nipple.” The breast sense of tit later disappeared during the Middle Ages before reappearing in American English in the mid-19th century.

From Middle English tete and Old French tete, probably from a Germanic expressive word for the nipple or breast. It is related to English tit but became the more neutral anatomical and animal-husbandry term, later extending to bottle nipples and similar nozzles.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary