Tumblers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of glass typically with a wide opening used for sipping drinks is also a small storage vessel for items; in technology, it can signify a rotating part that assists in operations like smoothing materials
2. A flat-bottomed drinking vessel commonly used for serving beverages ; a compact box or jar designed to hold and protect small objects ; a circular part in machines that spins to facilitate or control mechanical actions
3. A brimmed container for liquids that lacks a handle or stem ; a portable receptacle used for storing tiny belongings securely ; a gear-like section that turns within equipment to aid function

Etymology: Tumblers are named for the very motion that makes them tumble. The word is "tumble" with the agent suffix "-er", so a tumbler was originally something that tumbles, and the drinking vessel took its name from its habit of toppling over. Its ancestry runs through the Old English "tumbian", meaning to dance or leap about, which is a far livelier root than the word's current sense suggests. The "-er" ending comes from Latin "-arius", which passed through Old French "-ier" and entered English as "-er" in Middle English. Like many agent endings, it attached itself to a native verb, so the word is a plain English compound rather than an imported one. The "tumble" half, meanwhile, traces back through Middle English "tumblen" to the same ancient Germanic stock.

Synonyms: goblets, cups, mugs, glassware, drinkware