different between kitchen vs kitten

English

Etymology

From Middle English kychyn, kytchen, kichene, küchen, from Old English cy?en, cy?ene, from Proto-West Germanic *kukin?, a borrowing from Vulgar Latin *coc?na, from Latin coqu?na (“kitchen; cuisine”), from coqu? (“to cook”), from Proto-Indo-European *pek?- (“to cook, become ripe”).

In other languages, the cognate term often refers both to the room and the type of cooking. In English, the distinction is generally made via the etymological twins kitchen (“room”) (of Germanic origin) and cuisine (“type of cooking”) (from French).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?t???n/, /?k?t???n/
• Rhymes: -?t??n, -?t??n

Noun

kitchen (plural kitchens)

1. A room or area for preparing food.
2. (by extension) Cuisine; style of cooking.
3. (chiefly African-American Vernacular) The nape of a person's hairline, often referring to its uncombed or "nappy" look.
4. (music) The percussion section of an orchestra.
5. (dated) A utensil for roasting meat.
   • 1897, The Warm Springs Receipt-book (page 70)

     There are two modes of roasting: One is to use a tin kitchen before an open fire, and the other, and more common way, is to use a hot oven.

6. (attributive) A domesticated or uneducated form of a language.
   • 1885, H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines,

     Sir Henry and Umbopo sat conversing in a mixture of broken English and kitchen Zulu, in low voices, but earnestly enough.

7. (slang) A public gaming room in a casino.
   • 1925, William Rutherford Hayes Trowbridge, In the sun with a passport (page 31)

     Having done what was required to gain admittance to the "kitchen," as the public rooms are termed, as well as to the more exclusive "Salle Privée" […]
8. (obsolete) Anything eaten as a relish with bread, potatoes, etc.

Usage notes

• (area for preparing food): A kitchen fruit, kitchen apple, or the like, or one good for the kitchen, is one suitable for use in prepared foods.

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

kitchen (third-person singular simple present kitchens, present participle kitchening, simple past and past participle kitchened)

1. To do kitchen work; to prepare food.
2. To embellish a basic food; to season, add condiments, etc.
3. (by extension) To embellish; to dress up.

Anagrams

• Chetnik, chetnik, ethnick, thicken

English

Etymology

From Middle English kitoun, kytton, kyton, keton (“kitten”). Seemingly from, and usually explained as being from, unattested Anglo-Norman *kitoun, *ketun (compare Old French chitoun, cheton, chaton (“kitten”), diminutive of cat, chat (“cat”)); whence Modern French chaton (“kitten”). Similar words of Germanic origin may have reinforced this word; compare English kitling (“kit, kitten”), Low German Kitten (“kitten”), Icelandic kettlingur (“kitten”), Middle English chitte ("whelp, pup", see chit).

The idea that kitoun, rather than being of Anglo-Norman origin, was in fact a purely Germanic derivation from one of these words is etymologically problematic, but cannot be definitively ruled out.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?t?n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): [?k?.?n?]
• Rhymes: -?t?n
• Hyphenation: kit?ten

Noun

kitten (plural kittens)

1. A young cat, especially before sexual maturity (reached at about seven months).
   • 1752 January, The London Magazine, and Monthly Chronologer, pages 243 and 244.

   • 1844, , The Kitten, publ. by the Religious Tract Society, pages 1 and 2.
2. A young rabbit, rat, hedgehog, squirrel, fox, beaver, badger, etc.
   • 1906, Joseph Henry Taylor, Beavers, Their Ways, and Other Sketches, page 49.

   • 2009, Kathryn Walker, See How Rabbits Grow, publ. by PowerKiDS press (The Rosen Publishing Group Inc.), page 10.

3. A moth of the genus Furcula.
   • 1959, Odonata reprints: J. G. Needham collection, vol. 3, page 657.

4. (colloquial) A term of endearment, especially for a woman.
   • 1995, Duckman, "America the Beautiful" (season 2, episode 5):

     Speak only when spoken to, kitten.

Synonyms

• (young cat): catling (archaic), kit, kitling (archaic), kitty, kitty cat

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

kitten (third-person singular simple present kittens, present participle kittening, simple past and past participle kittened)

1. To give birth to kittens.

Further reading

• kitten on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Kittens on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• tektin

Dutch

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English kitten.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?t?n/
• Hyphenation: kit?ten
• Rhymes: -?t?n

Noun

kitten m (plural kittens, diminutive kittentje n)

1. a young cat; kitten
   • 2015, Joubert Pignon, "Kittens", in Paul van der Steen (ed.), Negenenhalf leven. Nieuwe en klassieke kattenverhalen, Xander Uitgevers B.V. (publ.).

Synonyms

• (young cat): kattenjong

Derived terms

• ritten

Etymology 2

From kit (“sealant”) +? -en.

Verb

kitten

1. (transitive) to apply sealant to
   • 1996, dr. A.M. Soeterboek & drs. L.F. Stapper, Het geneesmiddel en zijn toepassing, Bohn Stafleu van Loghum (publ., 9th ed.), page 21.

Inflection

Derived terms

• afkitten
• dichtkitten

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Noun

kitten

1. Plural form of kit

German

Etymology

Kitt +? -en

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?k?tn?]
• Hyphenation: kit?ten

Verb

kitten (weak, third-person singular present kittet, past tense kittete, past participle gekittet, auxiliary haben)

1. to putty, to cement

Conjugation

Further reading

• “kitten” in Duden online