: the hair that grows at the nape of the neck and that can be especially kinky (see kinkysense 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.
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Noun
Ask to eat a meal at the chef’s counter; watching the young kitchen team work is its own show.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
24 Sep. 2026 Instead, Toner suggests rotating a small selection of art or notes on a bulletin board or magnetic frame or bulletin board somewhere else in the kitchen to keep the room and fridge looking clean.—
Mallory Carra,
The Spruce,
24 Sep. 2026 Food writer and chef Alison Roman took a break from the kitchen to cook up a shoe collection with Margaux which launched on Thursday — marking her first fashion collaboration.—
Jaden Thompson,
Footwear News,
24 Sep. 2026 The main floor is essentially one large open space, with the kitchen, dining area, and living room arranged around a contemporary palette of pale stone floors, white walls, and dark wood cabinetry.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
24 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for kitchen
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
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.
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