Faucet

How to spell faucet

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce faucet

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does faucet mean?

1. nounA device with a valve that controls the flow of water from a pipe, especially over a sink or basin.

Faucet in a sentence

• The kitchen faucet kept dripping all night until the plumber fixed it.

• She turned the faucet to fill the bathtub before the guests arrived.

Where does faucet come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English in the 1400s from the Old French fausset, the name for a peg or spigot used to plug and tap a barrel of wine or ale. That French noun is thought to derive from the verb fausser, meaning 'to break into' or 'to damage', which traces back to the Late Latin falsare, 'to falsify or counterfeit', and ultimately to the Latin falsus, meaning 'false'. The connection in meaning is that piercing or breaching the cask was once described in terms of breaking or violating it. Over time the word settled on the fitting that controls the flow of liquid, and in American and Canadian usage it became the everyday term for the tap on a sink or basin. The surprising root is the same falsus that gives English 'false' and 'falsify', so the spelling preserves that 'fauc-' opening rather than the simpler sound it suggests.

How the word is built

• fauc- (from Old French fausset, a spigot or vent peg)
• -et (diminutive suffix)