Vat

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /væt/

Definitions

1. A large container used to hold liquids, such as in brewing or dyeing ; a tax added to the value of goods and services at each stage of production or sale
2. A big vessel designed to store or process liquids in industrial or commercial settings ; a consumption tax applied to products and services, usually included in the final price
3. A substantial tank or barrel that holds liquids for manufacturing or fermenting purposes ; a government-imposed tax on the added value of items sold in trade

Etymology: The word "vat" is a survivor of an older form that English nearly lost. Its ancestor, Old English "fæt", simply meant "vessel" or "container" in general, and the same root gave Dutch "vat", German "Fass" (barrel), and Swedish "fat" (dish or cask). Over time the ordinary "fat" (as in a dish or container) and the variant "vat" split apart: "fat" kept the sense of a dish, while "vat" narrowed to large containers for liquids. The modern sense of the word has also narrowed in a way that surprises many readers. A vat is now usually a large open or closed tank used in brewing, dyeing, tanning, or chemical processing, rather than a barrel for storage. The tax sense, "value added tax," is a much later and separate use: the word is a shortened form of that phrase, applying the old container noun to a financial charge.

Synonyms: container, tank, cask, barrel, tub

Antonyms: drain, empty space, void, absence, lack