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cutlery

UK/ˈkʌt.lə.ɹi/US/ˈkʌt.lə.ɹi/
nounA2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,545 of 15,258neutral

Cutlery is the knives, forks and spoons taken together. The drawer they live in, and the handful you carry to the table.

It is a collective word with no plural — you lay the cutlery, never the cutleries. British English uses it as standard, while American English says silverware, or flatware in a shop. The word comes from cutler, the old trade of making knives, which is why the knives are in the name and the forks are not. Sheffield built its reputation on it for two centuries.

Phrontis · CC BY-SA 3.0

Definitions of cutlery

  1. 1nouncutleryKnives, forks and spoons taken together.A2+

    “The cutlery is in the top drawer.”

    • Said"Can you lay the table? Cutlery is in the top drawer."
    • WrittenThe cutlery was silver and older than the house, and it was used every day.
    • UsedPolish the cutlery with a dry cloth before guests arrive.
    • ContrastCutlery, not dishes. Dishes hold the food; cutlery is what you eat it with. dish →
    • Not thisOne fork is not cutlery. Cutlery is the whole set, and the word has no plural.

    Patterna set / piece of cutlery · lay out the cutlery · silver / plastic cutlery · cutlery drawer

Also accepted in games: silverware, utensils

Remember it

CUTlery → the things you CUT with

Every knife, fork and spoon together: the things you cut with and eat with, lying in the drawer.

hooks ontocut

Where it comes from

  1. Old French

    coutelerie

  2. Middle English

    cotellerie

  3. English, today

    cutlery

Built from

  • cutleri · Middle English — the cutler’s art or craft

From Middle English cotellerie, cutleri (“the cutler’s art or craft”), from Old French coutelerie (modern French coutellerie).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in In the Kitchen, A Man Called Ove, Manners & Etiquette

First appears in chapter 16 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

cutlery in the wild

  • The city of Sheffield in Yorkshire, England has been famous for the production of cutlery since the 17th century.

    Cutlery

  • The development of cheap and mass-produced stainless steel in Sheffield in the early 20th century brought affordable cutlery to the masses.

    Cutlery

  • In Western cultures, cutlery items such as knives and forks are the traditional norm, while in much of the East, chopsticks are more common.

    List of eating utensils

  • The term includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes, serving utensils, and other items used for practical as well as decorative purposes.

    Tableware

  • Table settings or place settings are the dishes, cutlery and glassware used for formal and informal dining.

    Tableware

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.