Reverse Dictionary #27

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At least in 18th century North America (but I suspect elsewhere in the English-speaking world), an open-hearth cooking pot was called both a cauldron and a kettle. Some large pots, especially covered ones, are still called kettles today. This sense of the word survives in the names of various food products, such as kettle cooked chips (i.e., crisps) and kettle corn (a sweet and savory style of popcorn traditionally made in large cast iron kettles); and in the expression “a fine kettle of fish.”

I believe that small pots for boiling water to brew tea were originally called “tea kettles” to differentiate them from cooking kettles, but as open hearths were replaced by stoves (and cooking utensils evolved into modern pots and pans), that differentiation was no longer needed.

Continued …

Modern cast iron kettle for outdoor cooking

kettle, from Old English cetel (sometimes cietel), influenced by Old Norse ketell, meaning “deep container for cooking or serving food”

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I have updated “pipe” to rescue future quiz takers from struggling to remember how “piccolo” is spelled.

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