▪ I. kitchen, n.
(ˈkɪtʃɪn)
Forms: α. 1 cycene, kycen(e, cicen(e; 3 kycchen, (4–5 -yne), 3–4 kichene, (3–7 -ine, 7 -en), 4–5 kychene, 5 -en, -ing, -o(u)n, 5–6 -yn(e, 6 kytchyn(e, -in(e, -en, kitchyn(e, -ine, (kitschine, chit-, citchen), 6– kitchen, (6–8 -in, -ing, 7 -ein). β. 3 ku-, 3–4 cuchene(ü); 5 cochyn(e, 5–6 kochyn. γ. 4–5 kechene, -ine, -yne, 4–7 -ing, 5 -ynne, 5–6 -yn, -en, 6 -in, (4–5 keitch-, keiching; ketchyne, chechyn).
[OE. cycene wk. fem. = OLG. *kukina (MDu. coken(e, koekene, kuekene, Du. keuken; MLG. kokene, LG. köke(n, kök; hence Da. kökken, also dial. köken, Sw. kök), OHG. chuhhîna (MHG. küche(n, kuche(n, G. küche, and obs. or dial. küch, kuch(e):—vulg. L. cucīna, cocīna, var. of coquīna, f. coquĕre to cook. Of the ME. forms, those in y, i were orig. midland and north.; those in u southern and esp. s.w., with ü = OE. y; those in e partly Kentish with e for OE. y, partly north. and midl. with e widened from i.]
I. 1. a. That room or part of a house in which food is cooked; a place fitted with the apparatus for cooking. Clerk of the Kitchen: see clerk n. 6.
| α c 1000 Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 283/12 Coquina, cycene. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 166 Þa wurpon hi ða anlicnysse inn to heora kycenan. c 1050 Suppl. ælfric's Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 184/11 Coquina, uel culina, cicen. c 1275 Lay. 3316 We habbeþ cocus to cwecche to kichene. c 1300 Havelok 936 He bar it in, A[l] him one to the kichin. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 215 Sum men ben proude in her herte..of hiȝe kycchynes. 1450 Rolls Parlt. V. 192/1 John Hardewyk Clerk of oure Kechon, William Pecke Clerk of our Spicerye. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxxii. (Arb.) 90 Therwyth the wulf was had to kychen and his lyuer taken out. 1552 Huloet s.v., All kindes of meat dressed in the kitchen. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 3 The first foundation of a good House must be the Kitchin. 1656 Sir J. Finett For. Ambass. 168 Giving him a lodging to lye in and no Kitching to dress his meate in. 1728 Newton Chronol. Amended v. 337 Kitchins to bake and boil the Sacrifices for the People. 1832 G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 189 The dishes were conveyed from the kitchen by a kind of windlass, erected in the dining-hall. |
| β c 1205 Lay. 24602 Þas beorn þa sunde from kuchene. a 1225 Ancr. R. 214 He stikeð euer iðe celere, oðer iðe kuchene. c 1380 Metr. Hom. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig's Archiv LVII. 260 Vre Cuchene schaltou make clene. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 44 in Babees Bk., Spare brede or wyne..To thy messe of kochyn be sett in sale. Ibid. 553 The clerke of the cochyn shalle alle þyng breue. |
| γ 13.. Coer de L. 3429 Fro kechene come the fyrst course. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxx. (Theodera) 430 Nedful thing to þe keching. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon x. 255 Mawgys..went to the kechyn for to haste the mete. 1562 Winȝet Wks. 1888 I. 11 Mair cure had of the keching nor of the queir. |
b. fig. (chiefly with ref. to the stomach.)
† the worms' kitchen, the grave (
obs.).
hell's kitchen, an area or place that is regarded as very disreputable or unpleasant;
spec. a district of New York City once regarded as the haunt of criminals;
thieves' kitchen, a place inhabited by thieves or other criminals; also
transf.| c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. viii. (Preach. Swallow) xlv, The bodie to the wormes keitching go, The saule to fire. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. To Rdr., The stomacke..being as it were the kitchin of the body. 1651 Burton Anat. Mel. i. i. ii. iv. 17 The Ventricle or Stomack..the Kitchin (as it were) of the first concoction. 1806 A. Hunter Culina (ed. 3) 11 The Stomach is the kitchen that prepares our discordant food. 1838 N. Hawthorne Amer. Notebks. (1932) 15 He..swore fervently in favor of driving the British ‘into Hell's kitchen’ by main force. 1868 A. J. Munby Diary 29 Jan. in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 248 We went to see the Thieves' Kitchen,..a large long antique cellar,..men and lads, perhaps 15 in all, lounging on benches. All thieves. 1894 Harper's Mag. July 223/2 Her father had moved into..a ramshackle old barrack just at the edge of Hell's Kitchen. 1894 W. J. Locke At Gate of Samaria (1895) xxvii. 319 They went together to East End music halls, bank holiday gatherings, thieves' kitchens, night clubs in the West End. 1900 ‘Flynt’ & Walton Powers that Prey 98 ‘Think Hell's Kitchen 'ud learn him?’ Hell's Kitchen, in the speech of people who do not know what it means to work there, is the foundry. 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 243/2 Thieves' kitchen (London Street, 1882), the name satirically given to the then new Law Courts. 1941 C. O. Skinner Soap behind Ears 168 She asked me a few routine questions..in the manner of someone questioning a welfare worker concerning life in Hell's Kitchen. 1949 Sat. Even. Post 15 Jan. 39/1 It stands between a greasy garage and a tawdry row of brownstone tenements on the edge of Hell's Kitchen, west of Eighth Avenue on 49th Street. 1960 Observer 24 Jan. 5/5 Where did I think the biggest thieves' kitchen was to-day? 1973 P. Geddes Ottawa Allegation iii. 32 A Whitehall trusty, too, once away from the thieves' kitchen of intelligence and admitted to the counsels of the mandarins. 1974 D. Ramsay No Cause to Kill ii. 141 A bar on the East Side, almost the width of Manhattan Island away from Hell's Kitchen. 1974 ‘M. Innes’ Mysterious Commission xviii. 162 The place was certainly no thieves' kitchen. Honeybath..became aware of its respectable opulence. |
c. Allusively, with reference to the furnishing of supplies for the kitchen.
| 1551 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1882) 99 That the giffar of that benefice may get in the laif to thame self and thair keching. 1562 Winȝet Cert. Tractates Wks. 1888 I. 8 Approprying the Kirk landis..to zour awin kechingis. 1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin iii. iv. 132 Purgatory makes the Popes Kitching hot, and his inferior Clergies too. |
† d. Culinary art; cooking.
Obs. rare.
| 13.. K. Alis. 4933 [4917] (MS. Laud) Flesshe hij eten Raw & hoot Wiþouten kycchen. |
e. The culinary department;
= cuisine.
| 1679 Gentlem. Calling x. 80 Cookery is become a very mysterious Trade, the Kitchin has almost as many Intricacies as the Schools. 1752 Chesterfield Lett. (1792) III. 274 The German kitchen is..execrable, and the French delicious; how⁓ever never commend the French kitchen at a German table. |
f. Phr.
to go into (or to take tea in) the kitchen: see
quots. ?
Obs.| 1889 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang I. 415/2 To go into the kitchen (popular), to drink one's tea out of the saucer; an allusion to the vulgar method of drinking very common among servants. 1894 G. F. Northall Folk-Phrases 30 To take tea in the kitchen = To pour tea from the cup into the saucer, and drink it from this. |
g. A part of a casino at Monte Carlo where gamblers place smaller bets than in the
salles privées.
| 1931 W. Holtby Poor Caroline i. 25 In the kitchen the whirring of wheels, the jangle of voices..had grown intolerable. 1932 Wodehouse Louder & Funnier 255 It may be that your neighbours at the Le Touquet tables have a winsomeness lacking in those who congest the ‘kitchen’ at Monte Carlo. 1964 A. Wykes Gambling xii. 288 The old Winter Casino has 11 rooms. The smallest (i.e., the ones where the stakes are smallest) are known collectively as ‘the Kitchen’. This is where the majority of Monte Carlo's ‘amateur’ gamblers play. |
h. The percussion section of an orchestra or band.
slang.| 1931 G. Jacob Orchestral Technique vii. 68 We now come to a consideration of the percussion group (commonly known as ‘the kitchen’), chief among which stand the Timpani (or kettledrums). 1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz ii. 49 Next in the rhythm section we will have a look at the ‘gentlemen of the kitchen’. |
† 2. A utensil in which food is prepared.
a. Name in New England for a Dutch oven.
b. Sc. A tea-urn.
Obs.| 1782 Sir J. Sinclair Obs. Scot. Dial. 171 A kitchen, a tea-urn, or vase. 1828 Webster, Kitchen, a utensil for roasting meat; as, a tin kitchen. 1858 Ramsay Remin. v. (1870) 118 The kitchen [tea-urn] is just coming in. |
3. (Formerly also
kitchen meat.) Food from the kitchen; hence, any kind of food (as meat, fish, etc.), eaten with bread or the like, as a relish; by extension, anything eaten with bread, potatoes, porridge, or other staple fare to render it more palatable or more easily eaten. Thus butter or cheese is ‘kitchen’ to bare bread, milk is ‘kitchen’ to porridge. Chiefly
Sc. or
north. Ir. (
= Welsh
enllyn.)
| 14.. Sir Beues (MS. C.) 96/1917 And seruyd hym..of the kechyne metys fyne. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 91 A verie smal portione of kitschine meit, buttir, milke, or cheis. 1721 Kelly Scot. Prov. 127 Hunger is good kitchen meat. |
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 81 Herbis grene and frutt..And quhilis milk..Without kitching or ony kynd of kaill. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. L vj b, The most part vse Basil and eate it with oyle and gare sauce for a sowle or kitchen. 1567 Earl Mar's Househ. Bk. in Chalmers Mary (1818) I. 178 Kiching to the violaris; Item, ij quarteris of muttoun; ij powterie; with potagis, and fische [etc.] 1795 Statist. Acc. Scotl. XIV. 401 The cottagers..have not always what is called kitchen, that is, milk or beer, to their meals. Ibid. XVI. 39 Salt herrings too made great part of their kitchen (opsonium), a word that here signifies whatever gives a relish to bread or porridge. 1862 Hislop's Prov. Scot. 41 Butter to butter's nae kitchen. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped xxiii. 227 We were glad to get the meat and never fashed for kitchen. Mod. Sc. Prov. Hunger is the best kitchen. |
4. In a smelting-furnace: see
quot.| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Laboratory, the space between the fire and flue-bridges of a reverberatory furnace in which the work is performed; also called the kitchen. |
II. attrib. and
Comb. 5. Simple
attrib. Of, pertaining to, or connected with, a kitchen.
a. With names of persons, denoting
esp. those employed in a kitchen, as
kitchen-artist,
kitchen-boy,
kitchen-clerk,
kitchen-drudge,
kitchen-folk,
kitchen-girl,
kitchen-lass,
kitchen Malkin,
kitchen-man,
kitchen-mechanic,
kitchen-page,
kitchen-slave,
kitchen-slut,
kitchen-trull,
kitchen-vestal,
kitchen-woman.
| a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal 235 The great Roman *kitchin⁓artist Apicius. |
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. ix, Why folowest thou me thou *kechyn boye? 1588 J. Udall Diotrephes (Arb.) 11 He tooke me up as if I had bin but a kitchin boye. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iii. vi, Frog, that was my father's kitchin-boy, he pretend to meddle with my estate! |
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 277 Stiwardis, or *kechene clerkis. |
| 1615 J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. A vij b, Make him judge, Betwixt rare beauties and a *kitchin⁓drudge. |
| 1901 M. Franklin My Brilliant Career iii. 13 The dashing snake yarns told by our *kitchen-folk at Bruggabrong. 1912 W. Owen Let. 1 Feb. (1967) 114, I.. must unpack a Crate of China... Fit occupation for me, who have far more knowledge of these matters than the kitchen-folk. |
| 1700 W. King Transactioneer 8 Every *Kitchen Girl about the Town knows Jamaica Pepper. 1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West II. 253 There are some Yankee ‘kitchen girls’,..who can do more house work..than three or four negro servants. 1957 M. Spark Comforters ii. 33 The kitchen girls grumble about the work. |
| 1826 Galt Lairds i. (E.D.D.), Jenny Clatterpans, the *kitchen-lass, answers the summons. |
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. i. 224 The *Kitchin Malkin pinnes Her richest Lockram 'bout her reechie necke. |
| 1849 I. Taylor Loyola & Jes. (1857) 187 He would be *kitchenman. 1910 Granta 11 June 10 His door was sported, but on a covered dish left outside by a *kitchen-man I observed three slices of cold beef. 1930 Kitchen man [see bed n. 1 g]. |
| 1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 23 July 2/2 A..dirty looking *kitchen mechanic called Maggie Howard. 1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 215 A hobo camp cook, a kitchen mechanic. 1942 Z. N. Hurston in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 224/2 Best you can do is to confidence some kitchen-mechanic out of a dime or two. 1969 L. G. Sorden Lumberjack Lingo 67 Kitchen mechanic, a dishwasher in a logging camp. Cookee. |
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. v, Torne ageyn bawdy *kechyn page. 1530 Tindale Answ. More i. iv. Wks. III. 88 The kitchen-page, turning the spit. |
| 1538 Bale Thre Lawes 381 Where are these vyllen knaues, The deuyls owne *kychyn slaues? |
| 1859 G. Meredith R. Feverel 393 He got among them *kitchen sluts. |
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 177 Our bragges Were crak'd of *Kitchen-Trulles. |
| 1590 ― Com. Err. iv. iv. 78 The *kitchin vestall scorn'd you. |
| 1861 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 77 The Welsh housemaid, whom I have decided to make *kitchen-woman. |
b. With terms denoting the building containing the kitchen, its parts or surroundings, etc., as
kitchen-building,
kitchen-chimney,
kitchen-court,
kitchen-door,
kitchen-gutter,
kitchen-hatch,
kitchen-hearth,
kitchen-lum (
Sc.),
kitchen-stair,
kitchen-yard.
| 1886 Willis & Clark Cambridge III. 553 The *kitchen⁓building of S. John's College. |
| 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. 219 Who took the *kitchin-chimney and dripping-pan for their delight. |
| 1634 Rainbow Labour (1635) 24 Let all the..heards..lay downe their life at his *kitching doore. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxii, A knock might have been heard at the kitchen door. |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 274/1 *Kychyne gotere, alucium. |
| 1750 Carte Hist. Eng. II. 64 A poor Irish scholar..begging some relief at the *Kitchen-hatch. 1790 Laws Harvard Coll. 40 The Waiters shall take the victuals at the kitchen-hatch, and carry the same to the several tables. |
| a 1800 Cowper tr. Bourne's Cricket 2 Little inmate full of mirth, Chirping on my *kitchen hearth. |
| 1819 Scott Br. Lamm. xi, The thunner's come right down the *kitchen-lumm. |
| 1844 C. M. Yonge Abbeychurch ix. 188 Katherine, seeing Elizabeth go towards the *kitchen stairs. 1902 Granta 3 May 287 It was the Fancy Dress Ball of the season, and the Duchess of Billingsgate was waiting at the head of the kitchen-stair to receive her guests. |
c. With names of utensils, articles of furniture, etc., belonging to the kitchen, as
kitchen-board,
kitchen-boiler,
kitchen-chair,
kitchen-clock,
kitchen cupboard,
kitchen-dresser,
kitchen-fire,
kitchen-furniture,
kitchen-goods,
kitchen-grate,
kitchen-implement,
kitchen-jack,
kitchen-knife,
kitchen-poker,
kitchen-range,
kitchen scissors,
kitchen stool,
kitchen-stove,
kitchen-table,
kitchen unit,
kitchen-utensil,
kitchen-vessel,
kitchen-ware.
| 1552 Huloet, *Kytchen bourdes, or instrumentes perteyninge to the kytchen, magida. |
| 1853 Hickie tr. Aristoph. (1887) I. 188 A hole in the *kitchen-boiler. |
| 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xviii, In its place stood a deal table and a *kitchen chair. |
| 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Race Wks. (Bohn) II. 24 The *kitchen-clock is more convenient than sidereal time. |
| 1865 Trans. Illinois Agric. Soc. 1862 V. 161 The warm *kitchen cupboard. 1916 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 4 July 12/2 (Advt.), Kitchen cupboard with closed cupboard and drawers in base, separate open shelving on top. |
| a 1643 Suckling Poems (1646) 12 No *Kitching fire, nor eating flame. |
| 1785 Daily Universal Reg. 1 Jan. 2/2 Two waggons, loaded with his Majesty's *kitchen furniture. |
| 1726 Swift Gulliver ii. iv, The *kitchen grate, the prodigious pots and kettles [etc.]. |
| 1969 M. Pugh Last Place Left xi. 68 She turned with a *kitchen knife in her hand. |
| 1785 Daily Universal Reg. 1 Jan. 3/2 Perpetual ovens, in *Kitchen Ranges..upon an entirely new construction, heated without the assistance of any flue. 1807 Southey Espriella's Lett. (1808) I. 158 Took me into his kitchen..to show me what he called the kitchen-range. |
| 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 214/2 Scissors, *kitchen—6½ in., 0/11½. 1966 Olney Amsden & Sons Ltd. Price List 33 Kitchen Scissors..10/6. |
| 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 140/2 *Kitchen stools..Made of Deal..height 14 in.—3/9. 1968 A. Laski Keeper ii. 15 ‘Now, tell me all about it,’ she commanded, perched..on the kitchen stool. |
| 1738 F. Moore Trav. I. 17 (Jod.) Like a turtle on its back upon the *kitchen table of an alderman. |
| 1937 N.Y. Times 21 Mar. iii. 9/2 The demand for electrical *kitchen units is greatest in the Midwest. 1958 House & Garden Mar. 120 (Advt.), You can start with an EZEE Sink Unit and gradually build your dream kitchen around it... EZEE are the only kitchen units you can buy in a complete range. |
| 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. i. 94 Pottis, panis, and vthir *kitchine veshels. |
| 1722 De Foe Plague (1884) 188 Some *Kitchin-ware for ordering their Food. 1930 H. Crane Bridge, I ran a donkey engine..In Panama..Then Yucatan selling kitchen-ware. 1967 Times 11 Nov. 13/8 It was common ground that ‘kitchen-ware’ meant ‘ware’ of such a class as to be appropriate to use in a kitchen, but that consumer goods and mere packaging were excluded. 1974 J. Drummond Boon Companions xxv. 78 The display windows were still lit. He looked past kitchen-ware and crockery. |
d. With products or requisites of the kitchen, as
kitchen-brewis,
kitchen-fare,
kitchen foil,
kitchen-grease,
kitchen-herb,
kitchen-lee,
kitchen match,
kitchen paper.
| 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 760 All The *kitchen brewis that was ever supt. |
| a 1715 Wycherley Bill of Fare Posth. Wks. 1728 I. 175 But with him on his *Kitchen-Fare to fall. |
| 1958 Observer 21 Sept. 8/5 Stud the joint with a few cloves..before wrapping it up generously in *kitchen foil. 1961 Guardian 24 Mar. 12/6 Wrapping the fish in well⁓buttered kitchen foil. |
| 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 149 Tallow, vegetable oils, or *kitchen grease. |
| 1638 Ford Fancies v. ii, To thrust my head into a brazen tub of *kitchen-lee. |
| 1955 J. D. MacDonald Brass Cupcake iii. 29 Chief Powy stood nibbling on a *kitchen match. 1973 R. Thomas If you can't be Good (1974) xix. 165 He would stick a cigarette between his lips and light it with a kitchen match. |
| 1846 Jewish Manual, or Pract. Information Jewish & Mod. Cookery 186 Tie with pack-thread white *kitchen paper, so as to prevent the paste coming off. 1962 F. T. Day Introd. to Paper viii. 87 Household rolls, plain or with printed designs, tile and kitchen papers..are a few of the varieties which are rewound on the winding machine from the larger diameter rolls. 1974 D. Fletcher Lovable Man i. 37 A wad of absorbent kitchen paper. |
e. With abstract
ns., as
kitchen-aphorism,
kitchen-commentary,
kitchen-invention,
kitchen-science,
kitchen-similitude,
kitchen-skill,
kitchen-term,
kitchen-vassalage.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. x. (1686) 30 Culinary prescriptions and *Kitchin Aphorisms. |
| 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. 197 We..studie *kitchin commentaries, as much as any good science. |
| 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) II. 423 You wou'd be apt..to have less appetite, the more you..descended into the *kitchin-science. |
| 1605 Camden Rem. (1636) 17 We first taught the French all their *Kitchen-skill. |
| 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 156 Thro' villain *kitchen-vassalage. |
f. Comb., as
kitchen-bed-sittingroom,
kitchen-diner,
kitchen-dining-room,
kitchen-living-room. A room serving both as a kitchen and as a room of the type designated in the second (or further) element.
| 1951 Koestler Age of Longing ix. 152 The ‘study’ had at first been a corner of their kitchen-bed-sittingroom, partitioned off by a sheet. 1961 Times 11 Dec. 13/7 The kitchen-diner is much favoured and consequently catered for. 1974 Country Life 28 Feb. (Suppl.) 30/2 Bathroom, lounge, kitchen/diner, cloakroom. |
| 1963 N. Marsh Dead Water (1964) vi. 161 Nobody had visited the kitchen-dining-room while she drank her coffee. 1974 Times 3 May 11/3 The kitchen-dining room..is 19 ft. by 8 ft. |
| 1904 Westm. Gaz. 13 Dec. 8/1 Three bedrooms, kitchen-living room, scullery, and out-houses. 1955 D. Chapman Home & Social Status ii. 32 Houses built in pairs or small rows, with a kitchen or kitchen-living-room..bedrooms and bathroom. 1963 N. Marsh Dead Water (1964) v. 121 The old kitchen..had been converted into a kitchen-living-room. |
6. Objective and locative, as
kitchen-haunter,
kitchen plunderer;
kitchen-bred adj.| 1647–8 Wood Life 15 Feb. (O.H.S.) I. 140 Those greedie dogs and kitchin-haunters, who noint their chops every night with greese. 1676 Marvell Mr. Smirke Wks. 1875 IV. 83 He is a meer Kitchin-plunderer, and attacks but the baggage. 1775 Sheridan Rivals ii. i, You little, impertinent, insolent, kitchen-bred [etc.]. |
7. Special
Combs.:
† kitchen-bob (
bob1 9), a wood-louse or myriapod;
† kitchen-cordial = kitchen-physic;
kitchen Dutch [
tr. Du. kombuis-Hollands], now
rare, the dialect of Afrikaans spoken by Cape Coloured people in the Western Province of S. Africa; later, used by English speakers as a contemptuous term for Afrikaans;
kitchen evening Austral. and
N.Z., a party to which guests bring gifts of kitchenware for a bride-to-be;
† kitchen-gain = kitchen-fee;
† kitchen-garth,
-ground, a kitchen-garden;
kitchen Kaffir, now
rare, a
lingua franca of southern Africa;
= Fanagalo;
kitchen-Latin, inferior Latin, dog-Latin;
kitchen meat: see sense 3;
† kitchen-medicine = kitchen-physic;
kitchen-parlour, a room serving both as kitchen and parlour;
kitchen-plot = kitchen-ground;
kitchen-pokerness nonce-wd., a stiffness like that of a kitchen-poker;
kitchen police, in the
U.S. army, enlisted men detailed to help the cook, wash dishes, etc.; the work of these men;
kitchen shower U.S.,
= kitchen evening;
kitchen tea Austral. and
N.Z.,
= kitchen evening;
† kitchen-tillage, vegetables for the kitchen;
† kitchen-trade, a set of kitchen-utensils. Also
kitchen-fee, -garden, etc.
| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xvii. (1660) 210 *Kitchin bobs, which being touched gather themselves round like a Ball. |
| 1597–8 Bp. Hall Sat. ii. iv. 31 If nor a dram of treacle sovereign,..Nor *kitchen cordials can it remedy, Certes his time is come. |
| 1894 F. A. Barkly Boers & Basutos (ed. 2) vii. 109 By this time they [sc. our two children] could both speak Sesuto and ‘Low’ or ‘*Kitchen Dutch’ (as it is called in those parts) well. 1899 W. S. Logeman How to speak Dutch (ed. 2) Pref., My friend J. F. van Oordt, who has tried to strike the happy medium between ‘High Dutch’, not often understood by the people, and the ‘Kombuis-Hollands’ (Kitchen-Dutch) of the uneducated coloured servants. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. XII 763/2 By 1875, when the spoken language was firmly established, S. J. du Toit founded a ‘Society of True Afrikaners’ to propagate the written language; this met at first with violent opposition from the peasant and the politician—both English and Dutch—and Afrikaans was called kitchen Dutch, as the Greek of the Bible was once supposed to be ‘bad’ Greek. 1964 V. Pohl Dawn & After 102 What delighted us most was the originality of Gashep's speech. To us he spoke a kind of kitchen Dutch into which he introduced English and Sesuto words. |
| 1931 Auckland Star 22 Mar. 7/2 A *kitchen evening was given by Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Gillett at their residence..in honour of Miss Sabina Gardner, whose marriage..to Mr. P. Richardson takes place shortly. |
| 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 86 Thy sweat vpon thy face dooth oft appeare, Like to my mothers fat and *Kitchin gaine. |
| 1520 in Laing Charters (1899) 82 A gardyne, called..the *kitchengarthe. |
| 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 3 These make the Perfection of the Art of Gardening..to consist in a *Kitchen-Ground. |
| 1862 G. H. Mason Zululand iv. 38 In adopting [the official dialect]..no doubt, the Bishop has been guided by one of the chief clerks in the native department; who was born and reared amongst the Cape Colony Caffres, and, consequently, prefers it to learning Zulu proper; which, of course, is held in contempt by all officials, and sneeringly called ‘*Kitchen Kaffir’. 1924 Cape Argus Mag. 2 Feb. 5 A wonderful language is kitchen Kafir, a weird medley of dialects, interspersed with English words. 1936 [see Barotse]. 1962 ‘D. Wilson’ Search for Geoffrey Goring vii. 144 He speaks a bit of English and some Kitchen Kaffir as well as Swahili. 1971 T. Sharpe Riotous Assembly (1973) ii. 15 She had spoken to him in Kitchen Kaffir, a pidgin Zulu reserved only for the most menial and mentally retarded black servants. |
| 18.. Carlyle Misc., Boswell's Johnson (1872) IV. 129 Some Benedictine priests, to talk *kitchen-latin with. |
| 1737 Griffith Jones Lett. to Mrs. Bevan 526, I..Incline to try *Kitchen Medicines with stricter Rules of liveing. |
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxvi, Her mother..dived down to the lower regions of the house to a sort of *kitchen-parlour. |
| 1843 H. Martineau Hill & Valley 50 Another portion of his garden was half *kitchen-plot. |
| 1836–9 Dickens Sk. Boz, Mr. Watkins Tottle (1839) 460 He..had a clean-cravatish formality of manner, and *kitchen-pokerness of carriage. |
| 1917 *Kitchen police [see K.P. s.v. K 4 f]. 1918 Wells Fargo Messenger Jan. 87/3 My present position does not require me to perform any of the so-called dreaded duties, such as guard duty, kitchen police, stable orderly. 1918 Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 330 Kitchen police, those charged with the scullery work of the kitchen. 1929 F. A. Pottle Stretchers (1930) 33 Before first call, six or more unfortunates crept out of bed and went on kitchen police... ‘K.P.’ is for good reason the most hated detail in the army. 1936 Amer. Speech XI. 51 When you have reached the stage where you know that an M.P. is not a Member of Parliament and that kitchen police do not carry clubs, no one can send you to the warehouse to bring back a skirmish line. |
| 1924 H. Croy R.F.D. No. 3 89 It was a ‘*kitchen shower’. The glittering array was piled high, like a special sale in a racket store—dishpans, saucepans, pie pans,..and so on. 1974 News & Reporter (Chester, S. Carolina) 22 Apr. 2-A/5 Mrs. J. J. Key and Miss Mary Smyre were joint hostesses last Wednesday evening when they honored Miss Marilyn Hicks, bride-elect of the season, with a kitchen shower at the Key home on Columbia Street. |
| 1948 N. Scanlan Rusty Road xvii. 195 A ‘linen tea’ for the bride-elect, and a ‘*kitchen tea’ and a ‘China tea’ followed. 1965 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 28 Nov. 26 Michelle Bowes and Patricia Donovan..gave the bride a kitchen tea on Friday. 1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 116 The more class the families can pretend to the more they can exact in the way of presents at showers, kitchen teas and the like. |
| 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 45 They are sowen..in the Spring with other the like *Kitchen-Tillage. |
| 1693 Dryden Juvenal x. (1697) 250 Pans, Cans, and..a whole *Kitchin Trade. |
Hence
ˈkitchendom,
ˈkitchenful;
ˈkitchenward adv.| 1859 W. Collins Q. of Hearts (1875) 50 A whole kitchenful of people. 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 1044 Our good King Who lent me thee, the flower of kitchendom. 1876 Lanier Clover 28 in Poems, And, kitchenward, the rattling bucket plumps Souse down the well. |
▪ II. kitchen, v. (
ˈkɪtʃɪn)
[f. prec. n.] 1. † a. trans. To entertain in the kitchen, to furnish with kitchen-fare.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 415 There is a fat friend at your masters house, That kitchin'd me for you to day at dinner. |
b. intr. To do the work of the kitchen, to cook.
| 1893 Month Apr. 522 The indefatigable Brother..was kitchening under difficulties. |
2. Sc. trans. To serve as ‘kitchen’ or relish for (see
prec. 3); to give a relish to, to render palatable, to season.
| 1721 Ramsay Poet's Wish iii, I can be well content To eat my bannock on the bent, And kitchen 't wi' fresh air. 1786 Burns Scotch Drink vii, His wee drap parritch or his bread, Thou kitchens fine. 1835–40 J. M. Wilson Tales Borders (1851) XX. 205, I kitchened my loaf..with a penny⁓worth of butter. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi 271 There is an unpleasant sensation of wanting what the Scotch know by the word kitchen, ὄψον. We made the fat kitchen the lean. |
b. Sc. To use sparingly as ‘kitchen’ with food; to make (a thing) go far; to husband carefully.
| 1787 in Grose Prov. Gloss. 1825–80 in Jamieson. |
Hence
ˈkitchening vbl. n., cooking, cookery.
| 1883 Athenæum 11 Aug. 172 Crying out for old books, and good kitchening, and good manners. |