Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

teat

/tiːt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.50 in modern English

Syllables: teat
IPA: /tiːt/

4

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female therian mammals, milk is secreted.

noun

Something resembling a teat, such as a small protuberance or nozzle.

noun

An artificial nipple used for bottle-feeding infants.

name

A surname from German.

Example Sentences

"Milk formed their chief diet, and this they were supposed to imbibe from the witch herself, from a third "teat" which had been made beneath the arm by a nip from the Devil's pincers."

Etymology

From Middle English tete, from Old French tete (“teat”) (compare French tette), from Frankish *tittā, *tittō, from Proto-Germanic *tittaz (“teat; nipple; breast”), ultimately of expressive origin. Compare Old High German zizza ("teat"; modern German Zitze), whence also Italian zizza (“teat”). It heavily displaced Old English titt, a cognate of the same origin, which survives as tit, but in more vulgar use. Compare Dutch tiet and German Zitze (“teat”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: tete, *tittā, *tittaz, Thiet

Inflected Forms

teats (plural)

Derived Forms

teated teatless teatlike

Phrases

cold as a witch's teat glass teat hind teat mare's teat mare's teat grape witch's teat mammary gland

Frequently Paired Words

breast mammary gland tit udder

Synonyms

nipple mammilla mamilla pap tit

Rhymes With

street meet st eat complete beat feet sweet heat seat treat meat

Questions

How do you pronounce teat?: The recorded pronunciation is /tiːt/.
What does teat mean?: The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female therian mammals, milk is secreted.
Where does teat come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce teat

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “teat”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/tiːt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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