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faucet

Etymology and origin of the English word faucet

History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈfɔːsɪt/; /ˈfɔsɪt/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English faucet,[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French fausset (“stopper, spigot, peg of a barrel”),[2][5][6][3][7] of uncertain origin.[6] Barnhart and others derive it from fausser “to damage, break into”, from Late Latin falsāre “to falsify”, from Latin falsus (see false).[2][5][6][3] Hoad derives it from Provençal falset, from falsar “to bore”,[7] and another suggestion is a diminutive of Latin faux “throat”.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A tap or spigot for drawing liquor from a barrel (probably before 1400 in Barnhart; before 1400 in the OED; c. 1400 in Etymonline).[5][8][6][4]

Semantic evolution

The older spigot and faucet was a tap for a cask consisting of a hollow tapering tube driven into the barrel and a screw or plug in the tube that regulated the flow.[6][8] Properly the spigot was the tube and the faucet the screw, but the senses have merged or reversed over time.[6] The word also meant a vent peg stopping the hole in a cask (c. 1430),[8] and contemptuously a tapster (1614).[8] It became obsolete in British English except in dialect, but is the usual American word for a tap.[8][6][7]

Timeline

  • before 1400 – a tap for a barrel.[8][5]
  • c. 1430 – a vent peg (obsolete).[8]
  • 1614 – a tapster (contemptuous).[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A fixture or device for regulating the flow of a liquid from a pipe or container; a tap or spigot.
  • spigot
  • tap
  • false

Usage notes

Faucet is chiefly American, while British English generally uses tap.[8][7][6]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Faucet.” Etymologically, 10 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/faucet. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

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