kettle English · revision 1046

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɛ.təl/; /ˈkɛ.təl/, /ˈkɪtəl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ketel]], [[inh|non|ketill]] and [[inh|ang|cetel]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from a prehistoric Germanic word ([[gem-pro|*katilaz]]),^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) usually said to be borrowed from [[la|catillus|t=small bowl, dish]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a diminutive of ''catīnus'' “bowl, pot”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) It is one of the few Latin loanwords in Proto-Germanic;^(Etymonline) Weekley attributes it to the superiority of Roman cookery.^(Etymonline) The spelling with ''k-'' (c. 1300) is probably due to the Old Norse form.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A vessel, usually of metal, for boiling water or other liquids over a fire; a pot or cauldron (before 700).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The phrase ''a kettle of fish'' at first named a riverside picnic at which fish were cooked (1791), and ironically, as in ''a pretty kettle of fish'', an awkward mess (1742).^(OED 1989) In geology a ''kettle'' is a pothole scoured in a river bed (1866)^(OED 1989) or a hollow left in glacial drift by a melting block of ice.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) In most varieties of English outside the United States the word usually means an appliance for boiling water for tea.^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 700 – a pot for boiling liquids.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1338 – Middle English ''ketil''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1742 – ''a pretty kettle of fish'', a mess.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1866 – a pothole.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A metal pot, usually with a lid, for boiling or stewing.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[teakettle]]; an appliance for boiling water.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[kettledrum]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(geology)'' A steep-sided hollow in glacial drift, left by the melting of an isolated block of [[glacier]] ice; also, a [[pothole]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[teakettle]]

+ * [[kettle of fish]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[kettledrum]]

+ * [[cauldron]]

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}