grill English · revision 16137

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1668 (verb)|origins=la crātis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡɹɪl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[bor|fr|griller]] (1668), from the noun [[m|fr|gril|t=gridiron]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) the noun, a gridiron, is from French ''gril'' (1685),^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[fro|greil]], earlier [[m|fro|grail]], an alteration of [[m|fro|graille|t=grating, railing]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[la|crāticula|t=small gridiron]], a diminutive of [[m|la|crātis|t=wickerwork, hurdle]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Skeat 1911) perhaps from [[ine-pro|*kert-|t=to turn, entwine]].^(Etymonline) Hoad describes ''gril'' as a masculine form built on the feminine ''grille''.^(Hoad 1986) In many uses English ''grill'' is simply a shortening of ''[[grille]]'', or comes from the English verb.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To broil on a gridiron: the verb from 1668, the noun "gridiron" from 1685, in a translation of Montaigne.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Johnson (1755) gives only the verb, to broil on a grate or gridiron.^(Johnson 1755) The noun for food cooked on a grill is from the 18th century (1766 in the Historical Thesaurus),^(Hoad 1986)^(HTOED) and ''grill-room'', a room where meat is grilled to order, from 1869; it became an informal restaurant, and ''grill'' its short form, by 1910.^(Etymonline) The figurative sense "to torment with heat" is from 1842,^(Etymonline) and "to question closely" from 1894.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) On British cookers a ''grill'' is now a device that heats food from above,^(SOED 2002) and in American English the usual verb is ''[[broil]]''.^(Collins 2023) In US black slang ''grill'' has meant the stomach (1947) and later the face or mouth.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1668 – the verb, to broil on a gridiron.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1685 – the noun, a gridiron.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1766 – grilled food.^(HTOED)

+ * 1842 – figurative, to torment as if by heat.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1869 – ''grill-room''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1894 – to question intensely.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A framework of metal bars on which food is cooked over a fire; a [[gridiron]].^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(British)'' A part of a [[cooker]] that sends heat downward onto food.^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A dish of grilled food, as in a ''mixed grill''.^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)

+ # An informal restaurant; a [[grillroom]].^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cook on a grill or under direct heat; to [[broil]].^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' To question someone closely and at length.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[griller]]

+ * [[grillery]]

+ * [[grillwork]]

+ * [[mixed grill]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[grille]]

+ * [[griddle]]

+ * [[crate]]

+ * [[gridiron]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Middle English had an unrelated native ''grill'', fierce or cruel (as an adjective) and to annoy or provoke (as a verb), from about 1175 to the 16th century;^(OED 2026) the OED links it doubtfully with German [[m|de|grell]] and [[m|de|Groll]].^(OED 2026) In Suffolk and Devon dialect ''grill'' meant to snarl, and in Scots to shiver.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}