pot
pronunciation
How to pronounce pot in British English:
UK [pɒt]
How to pronounce pot in American English:
US [pɑːt]
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- Noun:
- metal or earthenware cooking vessel that is usually round and deep; often has a handle and lid
- a plumbing fixture for defecation and urination
- the quantity contained in a pot
- a container in which plants are cultivated
- (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
- the cumulative amount involved in a game (such as poker)
- slang terms for a paunch
- a resistor with three terminals, the third being an adjustable center terminal; used to adjust voltages in radios and TV sets
- street names for marijuana
-
- Verb:
- plant in a pot
Word Origin
- pot
- pot: [OE] Pot was borrowed in the late Old English period from medieval Latin *pottus, which also produced French pot ‘pot’. This may have been an alteration of pōtus ‘drinking-cup’, which in classical Latin meant simply ‘drink’ (it was derived from the same stem as produced pōtiō ‘drink’, source of English poison and potion). Related or derived forms in English include porridge, potash, poteen [19] (etymologically spirits distilled in a ‘little pot’ – Irish poitín is a diminutive of pota ‘pot’), potpourri [18] (literally in French ‘rotten pot’), pottery [15], and putty.=> porridge, potage, potash, poteen, pottage, putty
- pot (n.1)
- "vessel," from late Old English pott and Old French pot "pot, container, mortar" (also in erotic senses), both from a general Low Germanic (Old Frisian pott, Middle Dutch pot) and Romanic word from Vulgar Latin *pottus, of uncertain origin, said by Barnhart and OED to be unconnected to Late Latin potus "drinking cup." Celtic forms are said to be borrowed from English and French. Slang meaning "large sum of money staked on a bet" is attested from 1823. Pot roast is from 1881; phrase go to pot (16c.) suggests cooking. In phrases, the pot calls the kettle black-arse is from c. 1700; shit or get off the pot is traced by Partridge to Canadian armed forces in World War II.
- pot (n.2)
- "marijuana," 1938, probably a shortened form of Mexican Spanish potiguaya "marijuana leaves."
- pot (v.)
- "to put in a pot," 1610s, from pot (n.1). Related: Potted; potting. Earlier it meant "to drink from a pot" (1590s).
Example
- 1. At gm , maybe five electricians around the coffee pot thought I was great , " he says . "
- 2. For goodness sake keep away from that metal pot !
- 3. Drain the rice and return it to the pot .
- 4. David whipped up a big pot of good chili .
- 5. Under the cover of the smog , he snatched the pot on the sly .