Cookingware

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Utensils and containers designated for the preparation and heating of food items
2. Items such as pots, pans, and other vessels used to prepare and heat meals
3. Various equipment including pots and pans designed for use in cooking food

Etymology: "Cookingware" is a plain compound: "cooking," the present participle of "cook" used here as a noun for the act of preparing food, joined to "-ware," the old English word for manufactured goods or articles of a particular kind. The "-ware" element has been used since Old English, and it survives in words like "silverware," "glassware," and "earthenware," where it marks a category of objects made from a given material or for a given purpose. Here the purpose is cooking, so the word names the vessels a kitchen uses for it: pots, pans, and similar equipment. The pattern is productive, which is why the term reads so transparently. Its meaning follows directly from its two parts, with no shift in sense along the way.

Synonyms: cookware, kitchenware