Cooler

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈkuː.lə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. A container or device designed to keep food, drinks, or other items cold ; something or someone that lowers temperature or heat in a space or object ; a slang term for a place of confinement such as jail or prison
2. An insulated box or machine used to preserve low temperatures for perishables or beverages ; an apparatus or entity that reduces warmth in an environment or object ; informal usage referring to detention facilities where people are held as prisoners
3. Equipment used to maintain chill conditions or cool items during transport or storage ; a mechanism or person that provides cooling by decreasing heat ; a colloquial word meaning a holding cell or correctional facility

Etymology: A cooler is, at root, nothing more than something that makes things cool, and the word is built from two very old English pieces. The adjective "cool" descends from Old English "cōl", which in turn goes back to Proto-Germanic roots connected with cold, while the suffix "-er" comes into English through Old French from Latin "-arius", a common ending for people or things associated with a job or function. Joined together, "cool" and "-er" produced a word for a device or container that keeps things cold. The box sense is the surprise. For much of its history, "cooler" meant a thing or person that cools, and the cold-storage meaning developed from that general sense rather than the other way round. The word is therefore a plain English compound of a familiar adjective and an agent suffix, and its meaning has stayed close to its literal roots.

Synonyms: chiller, refrigerator, icebox, cooling device, cold storage

Antonyms: warmer, heater, stove, radiator, furnace