kitchen

noun

kitch·​en ˈki-chən 

plural kitchens

1

: a place (such as a room) with cooking facilities

a house with a large kitchen

—often used before another noun

kitchen cabinets

the kitchen sink

a kitchen knife

see also everything but the kitchen sink

2

: the people who prepare, cook, and serve food especially in a restaurant, cafeteria, etc.

We ate so eagerly that the kitchen sent out a second round of tostadas.

—Brian Reinhart

3

: a style of cooking : cuisine

The following recipes illustrate the wide scope of the Indonesian kitchen …

—Copeland Marks

Did you know?

Although a room where food is cooked is called a kitchen, the words cook and kitchen are so different that it is surprising to learn that they both come from the same source. Both words can be traced to the Latin verb coquere, meaning “to cook.” The connection between coquere and cook is easy to see, but kitchen has a more involved history. From the verb coquere came the later Latin noun coquina, meaning “a kitchen.” With some changes in pronunciation, coquina came into Old English as cycene. This became Middle English kichene and finally modern English kitchen.

Examples of kitchen in a Sentence

They want a house with a large kitchen.

Recent Examples on the Web

My office is six milk crates with a board on top of them in the corner of my kitchen, and this lady has a whole squat rack on her second floor with its own shower? —Brian Moylan, Vulture, 4 June 2026

The talented team elevates star ingredients like sunchoke, lion’s mane mushrooms, or wagyu beef in an open kitchen overseen by executive Chef Brandon Cunningham. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 June 2026

The old time classics like chicken livers and gizzards are still flowing out of the kitchen with frequency, too. —Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 3 June 2026

While much has been made of the midcentury glitterati that dined there (Truman Capote, Gloria Vanderbilt, Eleanor Roosevelt), the real luxury was in the kitchen, where the spirit of Freetown informed the herbed roast chicken and soufflé (among other dishes). —The New York Times News Service Syndicate, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English kichene, from Old English cycene, from Late Latin coquina, from Latin coquere to cook — more at cook

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing kitchen

• cloud kitchen
• dark kitchen
• everything and the kitchen sink
• everything but the kitchen sink
• ghost kitchen
• if you can't stand/take the heat, get out of the kitchen
• kitchen cabinet
• kitchen garden
• kitchen midden
• kitchen paper
• kitchen police
• kitchen roll
• kitchen-sink
• kitchen towel
• kitchen unit
• soup kitchen
• summer kitchen

Rhymes for kitchen

• kitchin
• cowichan

Kids Definition

kitchen

noun

kitch·​en ˈkich-ən 

: a place (as a room) in which cooking is done

Etymology

Middle English kichene "kitchen," from Old English cycene (same meaning), from Latin coquina "a place where food is cooked," from earlier coquere "to cook" — related to cook

Word Origin

Although a room where food is cooked is called a kitchen, the words cook and kitchen are so different that it is surprising to learn that they both come from the same source. Both words can be traced to the Latin verb coquere, meaning "to cook." The connection between coquere and cook is easy to see, but kitchen has a more involved history. From the verb coquere came the later Latin noun coquina, meaning "a kitchen." With some changes in pronunciation, coquina came into Old English as cycene. Further changes over the course of many years gave us kichene and finally the Modern English kitchen.