Everyday LifeGreek → English
Pitcher
/ˈpɪtʃər/noun
A large jug with a lip and handle for pouring liquids.
The Greek roots
βῖκος
bîkos
earthenware jar
Literally: “wine jar”
Follow a root:βῖκος2 words
The story of the word
Two English words are spelt pitcher and they are unrelated; this is the jug, from Old French pichier and Medieval Latin bicarium. Whether bicarium goes back to Greek βῖκος, an earthenware wine jar, is disputed, though most dictionaries record the Greek as likely and route beaker to the same source. The baseball pitcher comes from the ordinary verb pitch, which is Germanic and has no Greek in it at all.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Medieval Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 13th century
Same family
beaker
In a sentence
He filled a pitcher of water and left it on the table with the glasses.