cistern

American  

[sis-tern] / ˈsɪs tərn /

noun

• cisterns
  plural

1. a reservoir, tank, or container for storing or holding water or other liquid.

2. Anatomy. a reservoir or receptacle of some natural fluid of the body.

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cistern British  

/ ˈsɪstən /

noun

1. a tank for the storage of water, esp on or within the roof of a house or connected to a WC

2. an underground reservoir for the storage of a liquid, esp rainwater

3. anatomy another name for cisterna

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cisternal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cisterns
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of cistern

1250–1300; Middle English cistern ( e ) < Latin cisterna, equivalent to cist ( a ) ( see cist ¹) + -erna noun suffix

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Explanation

A cistern is an underground tank that holds water. A long time ago, cistern water was used for drinking, but nowadays developed parts of the world mainly use it for watering plants and flushing toilets. The oldest cisterns that we know of were built in the Middle East about 12,000 years ago, which is around when farming was invented. That's no coincidence. It would be tough to collect enough water to grow barley and wheat without storing the water in something, especially in a place as dry as the Middle East.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cistern cisterns

A large bear and her three cubs fell into the concrete cistern in Marshall Canyon County Park near the Claremont Wilderness Park’s 5-Mile Loop Trail, where they were rescued late Saturday night, the L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

Coffee gives the example of a basketball court in the Netherlands that also serves as a giant storm drain, with seating around the edges that channels rainwater down into a cistern under the court.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

If the plumbing company refuses to repair the cistern under the original $160 fee, tell them why you are disappointed.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

She’s taken, perversely, with John the Baptist, imprisoned in a cistern and prophesying doom for the decadent, Godless heathens, Salome in particular.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2026

So dark it was that no one, not even the Prince of Demons, would see the king waiting for him in the shadows, or that the cistern was filled with wine.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

School children have outings to waterworks to understand how precious the resource is, and households have embraced water-saving devices for shower heads and toilet cisterns.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

But another island, Stromboli, still depends on ships with water cisterns.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

When it runs out, he jumps from one rooftop to another to gather buckets of water from nearby cisterns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026

Another approach would be to place cisterns scattered across neighborhoods to store non-potable water locally for firefighting — as is done in Tokyo and other cities in Japan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025

Maybe they used some of the underground cisterns that had been laid down long ago but had been ignored, or maybe they used saltwater from the bay.

From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep

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