scullery
Americannoun
plural
sculleries-
a small room or section of a pantry in which food is cleaned, trimmed, and cut into cooking portions before being sent to the kitchen.
-
a small room or section of a pantry or kitchen in which cooking utensils are cleaned and stored.
noun
Etymology
Origin of scullery
1300–50; Middle English squillerye < Middle French escuelerie, equivalent to escuele dish (< Latin scutella, diminutive of scutra pan) + -rie -ry
Explanation
You're most likely to see the word scullery in an English novel, since it's a small room off the kitchen, usually in a very old, very British home. In the old days, maids cleaned dishes and utensils — and sometimes clothing — in the scullery, out of sight of their wealthy employers. In some parts of Britain, the word scullery is still used to mean "kitchen," although few people would claim to employ a "scullery maid," or a low-ranking member of a household staff. The root of the word is in doubt, but it probably comes from the Latin word for wooden platter, scutra, or the Old Norse skola, "to wash."
Vocabulary lists containing scullery
Copper Sun
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American Gods
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The Hidden Oracle
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It'd be nice for me to do something completely different. I'd love to do a comedy or I'd like to be a scullery maid in the kitchens in a period drama."
From BBC • Mar. 2, 2026
Dunk and Egg’s camaraderie fits the same tradition, proposing scullery maids can become queens.
From Salon • Feb. 23, 2026
One day she fell into conversation with a street musician after giving him some money and he encouraged her to follow his example, saying it would likely pay more than her scullery job.
From Seattle Times • May 5, 2023
Creaky, cozy and atmospheric, it has wide-plank floors covered in rush matting, a scullery with a Belfast sink skirted with linen and a cabinet that once held powdered wigs.
From New York Times • Mar. 16, 2021
“Sweet of you,” she replied, and she smiled as she left the scullery.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
