Grout

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɡɹaʊt/

Definitions

1. A viscous mixture primarily of water, cement, and sand that is used in construction to fill the spaces between tiles and ensure durability
2. A construction compound made of cement and water, utilized for sealing gaps between tiles to enhance moisture resistance and strength
3. A thick paste of cement, water, and other materials used to seal joints and fill spaces between tiles or masonry units

Etymology: Long before it sealed bathroom tiles, "grout" meant the coarse sediment left behind when something was ground or brewed. Old English "grūt" referred to dregs and coarse meal, the gritty residue that settles at the bottom of a container. The word's family is built around that sense of grinding: it is related to "grit," and the ancient root behind both is a prehistoric verb meaning "to grind" or "to rub." The shift to building material is a matter of texture. A thin mixture of cement and water is essentially a fine, gritty slurry, and that is what gets pushed into the gaps between tiles. The term thus returned to its original idea of a gritty, ground-up residue, now applied to a substance poured into seams rather than left in a pot.

Synonyms: mortar, cement