Buret

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A precise glass instrument utilized in laboratories for measuring and dispensing specific volumes of liquid through a controlled valve for accurate chemical analysis
2. This apparatus is commonly employed in titration procedures, allowing for exact quantification of liquid reagents and is characterized by its graduated markings and a stopcock device
3. A specialized glass device used in scientific settings to measure and release accurate volumes of liquids while ensuring precise control over the flow through a valve

Etymology: The word "buret" is simply a variant spelling of "burette," a small graduated glass tube with a stopcock at the bottom, used in laboratories to deliver measured quantities of liquid. Its ancestry runs through a chain of diminutives. The base is French "buire," a word for a flask or pitcher for holding liquid, and the French suffix "-ette" turned that base into "burette," meaning a little vessel. Behind "buire" lies a Late Latin suffix, "-ittus," which French inherited through Old French "-et" and Middle French "-et," so the instrument's name is a small jug built on an old pitcher. English borrowed the term directly from French, so the word arrived with its diminutive sense intact: it names a little container, not a measuring device as such. The spelling "buret" is an alternative form of the same loanword.

Synonyms: burette