Tapcock

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A device used to control the flow of liquid from a container or pipe
2. a valve that opens or closes to allow or restrict fluid passage
3. an apparatus enabling the dispensing of liquids through a spout or opening

Etymology: The "cock" in "tapcock" has nothing to do with roosters. In older English, a cock was a spigot or valve for controlling the flow of liquid, and it survives today in "stopcock," the valve on a pipe. The rooster sense is a separate word, with its own history. The "tap" half comes from Old English "tæppa," a plug or bung for closing a cask, and the same idea of a device that lets liquid out through an opening still underlies the modern tap. The combined form, "tapcock," appears in English in the later Middle Ages and was used for a device that let liquid out of a barrel or vessel. Its origin for "cock" is uncertain. Dictionaries generally treat it as a word of Germanic background, but its exact earlier source is not firmly established. The compound is plain: a tap joined to a cock, both meaning a means of controlling flow from a container. Its use has largely faded, so "tap" has mostly replaced it in everyday speech.

Synonyms: tap, faucet, spigot, valve, stopcock