Pipkins

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of small earthenware pot or container traditionally used for cooking or serving food
2. A diminutive model of crockery, often found in kitchens or decorative displays
3. Small pots typically made from clay, utilized in various culinary or ornamental contexts

Etymology: "Pipkins" is the plural of "pipkin," a small earthenware cooking pot with a handle, so the word meant a real cooking vessel long before it came to mean a toy. The noun is formed from "pipe" and the diminutive suffix "-kin," which turns a base word into a little version of it. "Pipkin" therefore literally means something like "little pot," and the "pipe" element is generally taken to refer to the pot's narrow, pipe-like shape or spout rather than to the smoking device. The toy sense is the later, more playful development: the plural now usually calls to mind miniature crockery set out in a dolls' house, a kitchen ornament, or a shelf display. The word keeps its original sense of a modest, practical pot, but in everyday use it has shrunk to the scale of the things it once described.