Etymograph

English

kitchen

Kitchen comes from Late Latin coquīna ‘kitchen’, from coquō ‘to cook’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pekʷ-1‘to cook’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pékʷeti2reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷekʷō2‘to cook’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcoquō1‘to cook’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcoquīna1‘kitchen; cuisine’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcocīna1
  7. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kukinā1reconstructed
  8. Old Englishc. 450–1150cyċen1
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kichene1
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1817kitchen1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English kitchen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin coquo
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1817, Mrs. Edgworth, Tales of Real Life: “I have found it so, for whenever I saw…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pekʷ-Wiktionary, English kitchen‘to cook’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pékʷetiWiktionary, Latin coquoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷekʷōWiktionary, Latin coquo‘to cook’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcoquōWiktionary, English kitchen‘to cook’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcoquīnaWiktionary, English kitchen‘kitchen; cuisine’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcocīnaWiktionary, English kitchen
  7. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kukināWiktionary, English kitchenreconstructed
  8. Old Englishc. 450–1150cyċenWiktionary, English kitchen
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kicheneWiktionary, English kitchen
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1817kitchenWiktionary, English kitchen. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1817, Mrs. Edgworth, Tales of Real Life: “I have found it so, for whenever I saw…”

The story

In other languages, the cognate term often refers both to the room and the type of cooking. In English, the distinction is generally made via the etymological twins kitchen (‘room’) (Latin via Germanic) and cuisine (‘type of cooking’) (Latin via French).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with kitchen, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- ‘to cook, become ripe’

through Late Latin coquō ‘to cook’

through Latin coquus

  • coach ← coche ← Kutsche ← kocsi ← Kocs
  • cook ← cōc ← *cocus

through Late Latin coquīna

  • culinary ← culinaire ← culīnārius ← culīna
  • kiln ← kilne ← cyln ← culīna

23 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A room or area for preparing food.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “kitchen”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin coquo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- / kitchen