pewter

American  

[pyoo-ter] / ˈpju tər /

noun

• pewters
  plural

1. any of various alloys in which tin is the chief constituent, originally one of tin and lead.

2. a container or utensil made of such an alloy.

3. such utensils collectively.

   a revival of interest in pewter.

4. British Slang.

   1. a cup awarded as a prize or trophy, as in a sporting event.

   2. prize money.

---

adjective

1. consisting or made of pewter.

   a pewter mug.

pewter British  

/ ˈpjuːtə /

noun

1. 1. any of various alloys containing tin (80–90 per cent), lead (10–20 per cent), and sometimes small amounts of other metals, such as copper and antimony

   2. ( as modifier )

      pewter ware

      a pewter tankard

2. 1. a bluish-grey colour

   2. ( as adjective )

      pewter tights

3. plate or kitchen utensils made from pewter

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pewterer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pewters
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pewter

1325–75; Middle English pewtre < Middle French peutre < Vulgar Latin *piltrum; perhaps akin to spelter

Explanation

Pewter is a silver-colored metal that's been used for decorative objects and plates, cups, and bowls since ancient times. It was once common to use pewter to make lidded tankards for drinking and large cauldrons for cooking. Pewter is a metal alloy, which means it's a combination of several kinds of metal. There's always tin and copper in pewter, and it once commonly included lead, which we now know is dangerous for humans to consume. As a result, much antique pewter tableware isn't considered safe to use, although it's an attractive decoration. Pewter made today doesn't contain lead, but it's still most often used in candlesticks, picture frames, and other decorative objects.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pewter pewters

The work, with a handsome design by Mr. Loquasto, features what look like sheets of pewter leaf hanging from clotheslines, beneath and through which eight dancers in dusky-hued unitards come and go.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025

There was a claw-foot tub with pewter fixtures, a charmingly messy bookshelf window-seat, a kitchen painted a cool green.

From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2024

The photographs are made using heliography — “sun writing,” a term coined by 19th century French photography pioneer Nicéphore Niépce — a technique akin to etching with light-sensitive materials on reflective pewter plates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2023

The team’s primary colors have been red and pewter since 1997.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 16, 2023

There’s all these other things too, like fur coats and porcelain cats and seashells and pewter statues of cowboys.

From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle

So to the Cheshire Cheese they repaired, and drank to a long friendship in foaming pewters of porter.

From Young Lives by Le Gallienne, Richard

The Strand was kept alive by a few slip-shod housemaids, on their marrow-bones, washing the doorsteps, or ogling the neighbouring pot-boy on his morning errand for the pewters.

From Jorrocks' Jaunts and Jollities by Surtees, Robert Smith

Here he paused a moment listening, and then on a sudden struck the door a couple of blows, which made the pewters ring again.

From My Lady Rotha A Romance by Weyman, Stanley J.

"Oh, Carus, they sang it and sang it, hammering their pewters together, and roaring the chorus, and that last dreadful verse: "'Where is the soul of you, John O'Bail, Where is the soul you slew?

From The Reckoning by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)

Thereupon Sally put on her bonnet, leaving her pewters half scoured, and ran rather than walked to the village.

From The Story of Kennett by Taylor, Bayard