beaker
pronunciation
How to pronounce beaker in British English:
UK [ˈbi:kə(r)]
How to pronounce beaker in American English:
US [ˈbikɚ]
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- Noun:
- a flatbottomed jar made of glass or plastic; used for chemistry
- a cup (usually without a handle)
Word Origin
- beaker
- beaker: [14] The immediate source of beaker was Old Norse bikarr. It is widespread in the West Germanic languages (German has becher, for instance), and it seems likely that Old Norse acquired it from Old Saxon bikeri. But it was borrowed into prehistoric West Germanic from medieval Latin bicarius, which in turn goes back to Greek bikos ‘earthenware jug’ (ultimate source of English pitcher [13]).=> pitcher
- beaker (n.)
- "open large-mouthed vessel," mid-14c., from Old Norse bikarr or Middle Dutch beker "goblet," probably (with Old Saxon bikeri, Old High German behhari, German Becher) from Medieval Latin bicarium, which itself is probably a diminutive of Greek bikos "earthenware jug, wine jar" (said to be an oriental word, perhaps a borrowing from Syrian buqa "a two-handed vase or jug"). Form assimilated in English to beak.
Example
- 1. They plopped this rod into a beaker of water and hit it with a laser beam from below .
- 2. This done , they emptied out the acid , washed the beaker with distilled water and added a chemical called glutaraldehyde .
- 3. In one hand , a device replete with dials and gauges ; in the other , a beaker bubbling over with a toxic-looking liquid .
- 4. To do so they took a beaker made of pvc , filled it with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids , and left it for six hours .
- 5. When placed in a beaker of water and exposed to sunlight , silicon absorbs photons of sunlight , generating electrons with enough energy to conduct through the silicon .