Silverware

How to spell silverware

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce silverware

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does silverware mean?

1. nounTableware, dishes, or ornaments made of silver.
2. nounForks, knives, and spoons used for eating, regardless of the metal they are made from.

Silverware in a sentence

• The antique silverware had been polished until it gleamed.

• She set the silverware neatly beside each plate before dinner.

• The family kept its best silverware locked in a glass cabinet.

• The diner ran out of clean silverware during the lunch rush.

Where does silverware come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a homegrown English compound, built from two Old English elements that have changed very little over a thousand years. The first part, 'silver', descends from Old English 'seolfor', a Germanic word for the precious white metal that has close cousins in Dutch 'zilver' and German 'Silber'. The second part, '-ware', comes from Old English 'waru', meaning goods, wares, or manufactured articles, the same element that survives in 'hardware', 'earthenware', and 'software'. Joined together, 'silverware' originally and literally meant 'articles made of silver', and that remains its core sense in British usage. In American English the word later broadened to cover eating utensils in general, even those made of stainless steel, which is why a fork that contains no silver at all can still be called silverware.

How the word is built

• silver (the metal)
• -ware (manufactured goods, articles)