faucet
[ faw-sit ]
/ ˈfɔ sɪt /
noun
any device for controlling the flow of liquid from a pipe or the like by opening or closing an orifice; tap; cock.
Nearby words
Origin of faucet
Regional variation note
Spigot is a common variant for faucet and is widely used in the Midland U.S. Elsewhere, faucet is more commonly used, especially in the Northern U.S.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for faucet
British Dictionary definitions for faucet
faucet
/ (ˈfɔːsɪt) /
noun
a tap fitted to a barrel
US and Canadian a valve by which a fluid flow from a pipe can be controlled by opening and closing an orificeAlso called (in Britain and certain other countries): tap
Word Origin for faucet
C14: from Old French fausset, from Provençal falset, from falsar to bore
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for faucet
faucet
c.1400, from Old French fausset (14c.) "breach, spigot, stopper, peg (of a barrel)," of unknown origin; perhaps diminutive of Latin faux, fauces "upper part of the throat, pharynx, gullet." Barnhart and others suggest the Old French word is from fausser "to damage, break into," from Late Latin falsare (see false).
Spigot and faucet was the name of an old type of tap for a barrel or cask, consisting of a hollow, tapering tube, which was driven at the narrow end into a barrel, and a screw into the tube which regulated the flow of the liquid. Properly, it seems, the spigot was the tube, the faucet the screw, but the senses have merged or reversed over time. Faucet is now the common word in American English for the whole apparatus.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper