Tenderiser

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tool or device used to make meat softer by breaking its fibers through pounding, cutting, or other mechanical means; a person who performs this action to enhance the texture of meat; any implement designed specifically to prepare meat for cooking by reducing toughness
2. An apparatus or instrument employed to soften meat by physically disrupting its structure; one who applies such treatment to improve meat's palatability; a specialized kitchen tool intended to facilitate easier chewing and digestion of meat
3. A utensil or mechanism that tenderizes meat by mechanical action; an individual engaged in the process of improving meat tenderness; any culinary device aimed at modifying meat texture for better cooking results

Etymology: The tool is named by its job: a tenderiser is the thing that makes meat tender. The word is built from "tender," a term that passed into English from Old French and originally described something soft, delicate or easily injured, and from the verb "tenderize," which adds the suffix "-ize" to make the verb sense of "to make tender." The final "-er" then turns that verb into a noun for the agent doing the action, so a tenderiser is literally a "make-tender-er." The "-ize" ending has a long journey behind it. It descends from Ancient Greek verb endings, passed through Late Latin and Middle French, and reached English in its Middle English form before settling into the form used today. English speakers have been attaching it to ordinary nouns and adjectives for centuries, which is why a kitchen gadget could be coined from a simple adjective with no special ceremony.

Synonyms: meat tenderizer, softener, mallet, pounder