kettle

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: kĕt'(ə)l, IPA^(key): /ˈkɛ.təl/,

• Audio (GB)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛ.təl/,

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (dated, regional US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɪtəl/
• Rhymes: -ɛtəl

Etymology 1

From Middle English ketel, also chetel, from Old English ċietel (“kettle, cauldron”) and in Middle English possibly influenced by Old Norse ketill and both from Proto-Germanic *katilaz (“kettle, bucket, vessel”), of uncertain origin and formation. Usually regarded as a borrowing of Late Latin catīllus (“small bowl”), diminutive of Latin catinus (“deep bowl, vessel for cooking up or serving food”), however, the word may be Germanic confused with the Latin: compare Old English cete (“cooking pot”), Old High German chezzi (“a kettle, dish, bowl”), Icelandic kati, ketla (“a small boat”). Cognate with West Frisian tsjettel (“kettle”), Dutch ketel (“kettle”), German Kessel (“kettle”), Swedish kittel (“cauldron”), Swedish kittel (“kettle”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (katils, “kettle”), Finnish kattila, Polish kocioł (“cauldron”), Czech kotel (“boiler”), Russian котёл (kotjól, “boiler, cauldron”).

Noun

kettle (plural kettles)

1. A vessel for boiling a liquid or cooking food, usually metal and equipped with a lid.

   To cook pasta, you first need to put the kettle on.

   There's a hot kettle of soup on the stove.

2. The quantity held by a kettle.
3. A vessel or appliance used to boil water for the preparation of hot beverages and other foodstuffs.

   Synonym: teakettle

   Stick the kettle on and we'll have a nice cup of tea.

4. (geology) A kettle hole, sometimes any pothole.
6. (ornithology, collective) A group of raptors riding a thermal, especially when migrating.

   a kettle of hawks

   • 2010, Jean-Luc E. Cartron, Raptors of New Mexico:

     Kettles can consist of thousands of birds migrating together.

7. (rail transport, slang) A steam locomotive
8. (music) A kettledrum.
9. An instance of kettling; a group of protesters or rioters confined in a limited area.
10. (slang) A watch. Cockney rhyming slang from 'kettle and hob' to 'fob' (fob watch)

Usage notes

In most varieties of English outside the United States (UK, Irish, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian), if not specified otherwise, kettle usually refers to a vessel or appliance used to boil water.

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

kettle (third-person singular simple present kettles, present participle kettling, simple past and past participle kettled)

1. (originally British, of the police) To contain demonstrators in a confined area.
   • 2009, John O'Connor, G20: The upside of kettling: The Guardian‎:

     […] to contain demonstrators for hours in a confined spot. This tactic, known as kettling, is seen by some as an attempt to prevent people lawfully demonstrating.

2. (intransitive) Of a boiler: to make a whistling sound like the boiling of a kettle, indicative of various types of fault.

Translations

Further reading

• kettle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• kettle (birds) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Noun

kettle (plural kettles)

1. Alternative form of kiddle (“kind of fishweir”)

References

Turkish

Alternative forms

• ketıl

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English kettle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈce.tɯɫ/

Noun

kettle (definite accusative kettleı, plural kettlelar)

1. kettle (vessel for boiling a liquid or cooking food)

   Synonyms: kazan, ketıl, su ısıtıcısı, su kaynatıcısı

Declension