kitchen

1 of 2

noun (1)

kitch·​en ˈki-chən How to pronounce kitchen (audio)
plural kitchens
1
: a place (such as a room) with cooking facilities
a house with a large kitchen
—often used before another noun
kitchen cabinets
the kitchen sink
a kitchen knife
 see also everything but the kitchen sink
2
: the people who prepare, cook, and serve food especially in a restaurant, cafeteria, etc.
We ate so eagerly that the kitchen sent out a second round of tostadas.—Brian Reinhart
3
: a style of cooking : cuisine
The following recipes illustrate the wide scope of the Indonesian kitchen …—Copeland Marks

kitchen

2 of 2

noun (2)

African American English
: the hair that grows at the nape of the neck and that can be especially kinky (see kinky sense 1)
I'm a Southern girl who was lucky enough to have a grandmother who was a beautician, and when Grandma Bessie styled our hair, the "edges" and "kitchen" were a top priority; they were just as important as the body of the hair. They had to be carefully pressed to assure the strands were just as straight and smooth as the rest of the hair.—Chime Edwards
If there ever was one part of our African past that resisted assimilation, it was the kitchen. No matter how hot the iron, no matter how powerful the chemical, no matter how stringent the mashed-potatoes-and-lye formula of a man's "process," neither God nor woman nor Sammy Davis, Jr. could straighten the kitchen. The kitchen was permanent, irredeemable, invincible kink. Unassimilably African.—Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Did you know?

Although a room where food is cooked is called a kitchen, the words cook and kitchen are so different that it is surprising to learn that they both come from the same source. Both words can be traced to the Latin verb coquere, meaning “to cook.” The connection between coquere and cook is easy to see, but kitchen has a more involved history. From the verb coquere came the later Latin noun coquina, meaning “a kitchen.” With some changes in pronunciation, coquina came into Old English as cycene. This became Middle English kichene and finally modern English kitchen.

Examples of kitchen in a Sentence

Noun (1) They want a house with a large kitchen.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Many kitchen supply stores, such as Sur La Table and Eatly, offer classes. —Carolyn Burt, Orange County Register, 11 Nov. 2024 Pour the miso sauce all over the fish and vegetables, lower the heat to medium, and cover the pan with a lid or a sheet of kitchen foil. —The Week Uk, theweek, 8 Nov. 2024 In the video, Chu lays out food for Sage, but Sasha quickly hears the sound of the food and waddles into the kitchen. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024 In many places, people still face shortages of basic goods, and lines form at impromptu emergency kitchens and stands handing out food. —Hernán Muñoz and Joseph Wilson, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for kitchen 

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English kichene, from Old English cycene, from Late Latin coquina, from Latin coquere to cook — more at cook

Noun (2)

perhaps a figurative use of kitchen entry 1, though the basis for such a comparison is uncertain

Note: Alternatively, a relation with Scots kinch "twist or doubling in a rope" (thus Scottish National Dictionary) has been proposed, though a Scots source would only be probable if the word were attested much earlier.

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1964, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of kitchen was before the 12th century

Phrases Containing kitchen

Dictionary Entries Near kitchen

kit-cat

kitchen

Kitchen Bouquet

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Kitchen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kitchen. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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Kids Definition

kitchen

noun
kitch·​en ˈkich-ən How to pronounce kitchen (audio)
: a place (as a room) in which cooking is done
Etymology

Noun

Middle English kichene "kitchen," from Old English cycene (same meaning), from Latin coquina "a place where food is cooked," from earlier coquere "to cook" — related to cook

Word Origin
Although a room where food is cooked is called a kitchen, the words cook and kitchen are so different that it is surprising to learn that they both come from the same source. Both words can be traced to the Latin verb coquere, meaning "to cook." The connection between coquere and cook is easy to see, but kitchen has a more involved history. From the verb coquere came the later Latin noun coquina, meaning "a kitchen." With some changes in pronunciation, coquina came into Old English as cycene. Further changes over the course of many years gave us kichene and finally the Modern English kitchen.

More from Merriam-Webster on kitchen

Nglish: Translation of kitchen for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of kitchen for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about kitchen

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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