kitchen

Where does the word "kitchen" come from? It comes from Latin coquina, passing through Old English before entering English (1200s).

Kitchen’s story begins in Latin: coquina meant “kitchen.” From coquere 'to cook' (Vulgar Latin cocina); the Roman cookbook attributed to Apicius is titled De re coquinaria, 'On cookery'. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old English as cycene. Reached English through West Germanic (German Küche); in Anglo-Saxon monasteries the Rule of St Benedict rotated kitchen duty among the monks week by week. It reached English by 1200s as kitchen. 'kitchen sink drama' named the gritty British theatre of the 1950s, such as John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1956). Today, kitchen means a room where food is prepared and cooked.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · classical coquina "kitchen", from coquere 'to cook' (Vulgar Latin cocina); the Roman cookbook attributed to Apicius is titled De re coquinaria, 'On cookery'.
2. Stage 2 · Old English · medieval cycene "kitchen", reached English through West Germanic (German Küche); in Anglo-Saxon monasteries the Rule of St Benedict rotated kitchen duty among the monks week by week.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1200s kitchen "room for cooking", 'kitchen sink drama' named the gritty British theatre of the 1950s, such as John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1956).