kitchen

1 of 2

noun (1)

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

kitchen

2 of 2

noun (2)

African American English

: the hair that grows at the nape of the neck and that can be especially kinky (see kinky sense 1)

I'm a Southern girl who was lucky enough to have a grandmother who was a beautician, and when Grandma Bessie styled our hair, the "edges" and "kitchen" were a top priority; they were just as important as the body of the hair. They had to be carefully pressed to assure the strands were just as straight and smooth as the rest of the hair.

—Chime Edwards

If there ever was one part of our African past that resisted assimilation, it was the kitchen. No matter how hot the iron, no matter how powerful the chemical, no matter how stringent the mashed-potatoes-and-lye formula of a man's "process," neither God nor woman nor Sammy Davis, Jr. could straighten the kitchen. The kitchen was permanent, irredeemable, invincible kink. Unassimilably African.

—Henry Louis Gates Jr.

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

Noun (1)

They want a house with a large kitchen.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Photo : Gabriel Zimmer/Catskill Image The kitchen has an oversized maple center island. —Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 19 May 2025

Stand mixers are the workhorses of the kitchen, making every batch of bread much easier to prepare. —Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 19 May 2025

But the birthday plans are put on hold when Tommy arrives with Ellie in tow, high on painkillers after intentionally burning her bite-scarred arm while on kitchen duty. —EW.com, 19 May 2025

The kitchen is adjacent and is pretty basic, with just a sink and cutting board insert, a fridge, a microwave, and some cabinetry. —Adam Williams may 19, New Atlas, 19 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

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

Noun (2)

perhaps a figurative use of kitchen entry 1, though the basis for such a comparison is uncertain

Note: Alternatively, a relation with Scots kinch "twist or doubling in a rope" (thus Scottish National Dictionary) has been proposed, though a Scots source would only be probable if the word were attested much earlier.

First Known Use

Noun (1)

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

Noun (2)

1964, in the meaning defined above

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

Noun

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.