▪ I. teat
(tiːt)
Forms: α. 1 tit, titt, 3 titte, 3–5 tytte, 9 dial. tit (dim. tittie). See also tit n.6 β. 3–6 tete, 4–5 teet(e, 4–7 teate, 6– teat. γ. 4–6 tette, 4–8 tet, 8 tett. δ. 4 tute.
[OE. tit(t masc., cognate with MLG., MDu. titte, LG. tit(t, titte (Du. dial. tet), late MHG. zitze fem., Ger. zitz masc. str., zitze masc. and fem. wk. Tit (tittie), for long dialectal, has come into gen. use as tit n.6 The γ-form tette, tett, tet, and perh. also the β-form tête, teet(e, teate, whence the current teat, appear to represent F. tette, in OF. tete (12–13th c.), tette, taite; but the form-history is not clear, and in ME. there was probably mixture of the OE. and OF. forms. The OF. as well as Sp. teta, It. tetta (and zizza) are themselves generally held to be of German origin, and point to an OLG. titte fem. Ulterior etymology unknown. (The ordinary OHG. word tutta, tuta fem., tutto, tuto masc., MHG. tutte, tute fem., was app. unconnected.)]
1. The small protuberance at the tip of each breast or udder in female mammalia (except monotremes), upon which the ducts of the mammary gland open, and from which the milk is sucked by the young; the nipple. Formerly also applied to the whole breast or udder. (In early use, and still dial., of women; now usually of quadrupeds.)
| α c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xi. 27 Eadiᵹ womb vel hrif seðe ðec ᵹebær & ða titto vel ða breosto ða ðu ᵹediides [c 975 Rushw. ða tito vel ða breost ða ðu deðedes]. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 112 Wið titta sar wifa þe beoð melce. c 1205 Lay. 5025 Þu eært mi bærn deore. Loka her þa tittes Þet þu suke mid þine lippes. Ibid. 11936 Ich heom wullen alle for-don & bi þan titten [c 1275 tyttes] an-hon. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 43 A wolfesse..fedde..þe children, and made hem ofte souke of here owne tetes [v.r. tyttes]. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Titties, Tits, s. pl. teats. |
| β c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 473/376 Þanne may mi luytel sone to hire tete take. 1382 Wyclif Luke xi. 27 Blessid be the teetis whiche thou hast sokun. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 518, I moorne as dooth a lamb after the tete. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 233 Blysse we..the grete lorde, souckynge the maydenly teates of the moste meke vyrgyn. 1578 Banister Hist. Man i. 9 The fashion of Tetes in a Cowes vdder. 1662 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. verse 17. i. v. §1 (1669) 255/2 Here his soul sweetly sleeps, as the Child, with the Teat in its mouth. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 103 The teats of some, as in the ape and the elephant, are like those of men, being but two. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 700 Sometimes there are more pigs littered than the sow has teats to give to each. |
| γ a 1325 Tettes [see b]. 13.. S.E. Leg. (MS. Bodl. 779) in Herrig Archiv LXXXII. 342/322 Þis me lykeþ bet Þan me dede in my ȝouþe mylk of any tet. 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Admitto, Admittere pastum ad vbera, to receiue to the tette. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 323 The Cows Dug by some is called the Tet. 1709 Prior Callimachus' 1st Hymn to Jupiter 55 Kind Amalthea reach'd her Tett, distent With Milk. |
| δ c 1400 R. Glouc.'s Chron. (Rolls) App. G. 196 Þeos tutes [v.r. tetys] þou soke ylome. |
† b. In allusive expressions, as
at the teat, (a suckling) at the breast;
from the teat(s, from infancy.
| a 1325 Prose Psalter xxi[i]. 8 Þou art myn hope from þe tettes of my moder. c 1440 J. Capgrave St. Kath. i. 242 Mercy fro þe tetys grew wyth hyr. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 145 Euen at thy Teat thou had'st thy Tyranny. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iii. v. 1454 Vs our kinde Colledge from the teate did teare. a 1635 Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 26 He left a plentiful Estate, and such a Son, who, as the vulgar speaks it, could live without the teat. |
† c. fig. A source of nourishment or supply.
Obs.| c 1440 Jacob's Well 232 Putte fro þe þe tetys of ydylnes, þat þou souke no more þer-of for no delyȝt! 1569 Irish Act 11 Eliz. Stat. iii. c. 1 Preamb., That..most detestable coyne and liverie, which was the very nurse and teat that gave suck and nutriment to all disobediences. a 1631 Donne Lett. (1651) 102 The channels of God's mercies run through both fields, and they are sister teats of his graces. 1675 Hobbes Odyssey vii. (1686) 88 His Riches was a never⁓dying Teat. |
2. transf. A structure, natural or artificial, resembling a teat; a nipple: see
quots.| 1587 L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Oxen (1627) 12 Such superfluous flesh on the tongue of cattel wil hinder the beast oftentimes in eating his meate, being called of some husbandes the Barbes, Teates. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 253 Nature has supplied this animal [spider] with..five dugs or teats for spinning it into thread. 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. xix. II. 284 These teats are connected with internal reservoirs, which yield the fluid matter forming the thread or web. 1864 Webster, Teat..2. (Mach.) A small nozzle resembling a teat. 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., Teat, a small, rounded, perforated projection, otherwise called a nipple, as that of a gun. 1890 [see teat drill in 3]. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
teat-like adj.;
teat-cup,
teat drill (see
quots.);
teat-fish (
Australia), a sea-slug of the genus
Holothuria,
esp. H. mammifera, so called from its papillæ;
† teat-head, the nipple;
teat-stud, one of the metal studs, commonly called ‘buttons’, with which the front of a page's jacket is ornamented;
teat-worm, the common thread-worm (
Oxyuris vermicularis).
| 1862 Morn. Star 19 June, The cow-milker..consisting of two diaphragm pumps..to which four *teat-cups are attached for receiving the teats of the cow. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 8 Oct. 8/2 A glass lid..enables the attendant to see when a cow is finished, and then by simply turning a stop-cock the teat-cups fall off. |
| 1890 Cent. Dict. s.v. Drill, *Teat drill, a square-faced cylindrical drill with a sharp, pyramidal projection or teat issuing from the center of the cutting face. |
| 1894 B. Thomson S. Sea Yarns 256 The reef swarmed with *teat-fish. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 347 Such beasts as be very fruitful..haue many nipples or *teat heads all along their belly. |
| 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxx. 149 A great number of Lepidopterous larvæ..have between the under-lip and fore-legs a slender transverse opening, containing a *teat-like protuberance. |
| 1910 J. Platt Jun. Let. to Editor, *Teat-stud, technical term, used by tailors for the tiny plated or gilt buttons which are sewn as closely together as possible down the front of a page's jacket. The teat-stud or tit-stud is quite unique in shape. |
| 1899 J. Cagney Jaksch's Clin. Diagn. vi. (ed. 4) 226 Oxyuris vermicularis (common thread-worm or *teat worm). |
▪ II. teat obs. form of
tate, tuft, etc.