cuillère (French)
Where does "cuillère" come from?
The French word for spoon, 'cuillère', traces back to the Latin word 'cochlearium', which originally referred to a vessel or tool for eating snails. This was derived from 'cochlea', meaning snail, highlighting how early cutlery was often specialized for specific foods. Over time, the word evolved through Old French as 'cuilliere' before becoming the standard term for a general spoon in modern French.
Full etymology tree
- cuillère (French), 'spoon'
- inherited from cuilliere (Old French), 'small spoon'
- inherited from cochleārium (Latin), 'snailery, snail-pen, enclosure for edible snails'
- derived from cochlear (Latin), 'a spoon'
- suffix cochlea (Latin), 'snail'
- borrowed from κοχλῐ́ᾱς (Ancient Greek)
- suffix -ar (Latin), 'noun-forming suffix'
- suffix cochlea (Latin), 'snail'
- derived from cochlear (Latin), 'a spoon'
- inherited from cochleārium (Latin), 'snailery, snail-pen, enclosure for edible snails'
- inherited from cuilliere (Old French), 'small spoon'
Ancestors
- cuilliere (Old French)
- cochlearium (Latin)
Cognates and doublets
- cullera (Catalan)
- cucchiaio (Italian)
- cuchara (Spanish)
Descendants and derived words
- kuyɛri (Bambara)
- كيير (Chadian Arabic)
- cuillère à café (French)
- cuillère à caviar (French)
- cuillère à dessert (French)
- cuillère à glace (French)
- cuillère à miel (French)
- cuillère à moutarde (French)
- cuillère à œuf (French)
- cuillère à pamplemousse (French)
- cuillère à pomme parisienne (French)
- cuillère à sel (French)
Updated March 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris