Teether

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. An object, often made of soft material, designed for infants to chew on during the teething process to soothe discomfort
2. A small, usually textured toy or accessory that babies bite to relieve gum pain when their teeth are coming in
3. A specially designed item for young children that provides relief from teething pain while promoting oral motor skills

Etymology: The word is a straightforward formation: "teethe" plus the agent suffix "-er," so a teether is literally a thing that teethes, the device doing the work on a baby's behalf. The verb "teethe" came first, meaning for an infant's teeth to push through the gums, and the suffix that turns it into a noun for an object has a long pedigree of its own. The "-er" ending descends from Old English "-ere," which itself came from the Latin "-arius," a suffix that marked a person or thing connected with something, and it passed through Old French "-ier" before reaching Middle English "-er."

Synonyms: chew toy, teething ring