kitchen

Etymology

From Middle English kychyn, kytchen, kichene, küchen, from Old English cyċen, cyċene, from Proto-West Germanic *kukinā, a borrowing from Late Latin cocīna, from earlier coquīna (“kitchen; cuisine”), from coquō (“to cook”), from Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- (“to cook, become ripe”). In other languages, the cognate term often refers both to the room and the type of cooking. In English, the distinction is generally made via the etymological twins kitchen (“room”) (Latin via Germanic) and cuisine (“type of cooking”) (Latin via French).

noun

1. A room or area for preparing food.
   We cook in the kitchen.
   Everything a living animal could do to destroy and to desecrate bed and walls had been done. […] A canister of flour from the kitchen had been thrown at the looking-glass and lay like trampled snow over the remains of a decent blue suit with the lining ripped out which lay on top of the ruin of a plastic wardrobe. 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess
   I always leave the stuff piled up, piled up in the sink / But you will always find him in the kitchen at parties 1980, Jona Lewie, Keef Trouble (lyrics and music), “You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties”, performed by Jona Lewie
2. (by extension) Cuisine; style of cooking.
   I had been trained with the rigidity and discipline of the French kitchen, and now I was embracing American informality. 2011, Jacques Pépin, Essential Pépin: More Than 700 All-Time Favorites from My Life in Food
   My palate passionately lies in the savory kitchen with its salty fats and infernal flavors of chilies and spices. 2011, Daniel Orr, Paradise Kitchen: Caribbean Cooking with Chef Daniel Orr, page 221
   Kline wrote that, according to various recent surveys, the young Israeli-born generation generally preferred a Mediterranean diet and dishes from the “Oriental” kitchen. 2015, Yael Raviv, Falafel Nation: Cuisine and the Making of National Identity in Israel
   Named for the La Merced monastery, which was built in 1594 and on whose grounds the market is now located, it is just east of Mexico City's famed Zócalo plaza and is a must-visit for anyone wanting to experience the many delectable specialties of the Mexican kitchen. 2015, Mimi Sheraton, 1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List, page 651
3. (chiefly African-American Vernacular) The nape of a person's hairline, often referring to its uncombed or "nappy" look.
4. (music) The percussion section of an orchestra.
   For obvious reasons the percussion is normally arranged along the back of the platform, whether centrally or to one side, and sometimes also in two tiers, the heavy, noisier instruments behind, and the pitched, agile instruments such as vibraphone, marimba, etc. in front. An outstanding exception, however, exists in Roberto Gerhard's Epithalamion where the composer expressly desired that the all-important kitchen department be spread out in front of the strings and hence nearest the audience. 1981, Norman Del Mar, Anatomy of the Orchestra
5. (dated) A utensil for roasting meat.
   There are two modes of roasting: One is to use a tin kitchen before an open fire, and the other, and more common way, is to use a hot oven. 1897, The Warm Springs Receipt-book, page 70
6. (attributive) A domesticated or uneducated form of a language.
   Sir Henry and Umbopo sat conversing in a mixture of broken English and kitchen Zulu, in low voices, but earnestly enough. 1885, H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines
7. (slang) A public gaming room in a casino.
   Having done what was required to gain admittance to the "kitchen," as the public rooms are termed, as well as to the more exclusive "Salle Privée" […] 1925, William Rutherford Hayes Trowbridge, In the sun with a passport, page 31
   But on this June evening when Bond walked through the 'kitchen' into the salle privée, it was with a sensation of confidence and cheerful anticipation that he changed a million francs into plaques of fifty mille and took a seat […] 1953, Ian Fleming, Casino Royale
8. (obsolete) Anything eaten as a relish with bread, potatoes, etc.; a condiment.
9. The region of a billiard table between the head rail and the head string.

verb

1. To do kitchen work; to prepare food.
   A dress scarcely suited to woodland kitchening was defended by an apron borrowed from the maid. 1842, Caroline Matilda Kirkland, Forest Life - Volume 2, page 52
   "...May I ? " added the speaker, and forthwith took his answer from his master's smile ; "may I respectfully see what the old one has kitchened for you when I was not there ? " 1899, Egerton Castle -, The Light of Scarthey: A Romance, page 10
   Instinctively they moved toward community canning, community baking, community kitchening on the grand scale to release energy for other war exigencies. 1920, Suffragist - Volumes 8-9, page 239
   From somewhere through the series of connecting rooms she smelled food, the stabbing odor of onions cooking, a distantly familiar spice, heard the clatter of women kitchening. 1979, Barbara Ninde Byfield, A parcel of their fortunes, page 21
2. To embellish a basic food; to season, add condiments, etc.
   I have found it so, for whenever I saw the meal and potatoes running low, I spared them, and kitchened them all I could, and never was run out of them till the new came in. 1817, Mrs. Edgworth, Tales of Real Life, Or, Scenes in Ireland
   I "kitchened" my loaf, as they say in Scotland, with a pennyworth of butter, and occasionally with lettuce or a few radishes in their season ; and the beverage with which I regaled myself, after my meals, was a glass of water from the nearest pump. 1851, John Mackay Wilson, Tales of the Borders and of Scotland
   The green hill slopes are dotted over with sheep and lambs nibbling away at their morning meal, kitchened with blabs of sparkling dew, and higher up the mountain side we hear the " cootie moorcock's coothy craw." 1893, Malcolm Ferguson, Fishing Incidents and Adventures
   This was seasoned with salt and sometimes kitchened with butter. 1907, Thomas Finlayson Henderson, Francis Watt, Scotland of to-day, page 358
3. (by extension) To embellish; to dress up.
   His Maker has not so endowed him as to lay him under the necessity of kitchening, so to speak, a slender share of talent, and, by rigid economy, make it go as far as possible. 1830, The Imperial Magazine
   But as in his novels and other work there is a 'kitchening' of the material, a tentativeness. 2003, Patrick Kavanagh, Antoinette Quinn, A Poet's Country: Selected Prose, page 211