skillet

English

a skillet

Etymology

From Old French escuëlette, diminutive of escuëlle (“a porringer”), (French écuelle), from Vulgar Latin scutella, diminutive of scutra, scuta (“tray, dish”). Compare scuttle (“basket”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: skĭlʹĭt, IPA^(key): /ˈskɪlɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪlɪt
• Hyphenation: skil‧let

Noun

skillet (plural skillets) (Midland US, Southern US, UK)

1. (chiefly UK, historical) A large and heavy saucepan or frying pan with legs and, usually, a long handle designed for heating food in a fireplace.
2. (chiefly US) A pan for frying, generally large and heavy.

   Heat some oil in a cast-iron skillet and add the onions.

   • 2018, “Black Balloons”, performed by Denzel Curry:

     Inside this paper plane
     Note my words are Navy sealed
     So here and I quote
     Taboo and I are in the same boat
     What's said from Pennywise
     I guess we all float
     Sky is the limit, I could die in a minute
     Got my mind in a skillet
     Suicide not a mission
     See the vibe very timid
     I'm timid and very sad
     Translated my thoughts and feelings
     I pivot into the pad

3. (US, sometimes attributive) A dish or meal cooked in such a pan.

   This is an easy skillet with potatoes and bacon.

   Can you make up a quick skillet hash?

Synonyms

• (pan for frying): frying pan (UK, US)

Derived terms

• drop like a hot skillet
• homeskillet
• skillet bread
• skillet corn bread

Descendants

• → Missouri French: esquilette

Translations

pan for frying

• Bulgarian: тиган (bg) m (tigan)
• Catalan: paella (ca) f
• Central Sierra Miwok: salten-
• Dutch: koekenpan (nl), bakpan (nl)
• Finnish: paistinpannu (fi)
• German: Bratpfanne (de) f
• Hungarian: serpenyő (hu), lábos (hu), tepsi (hu)
• Irish: scilléad m
• Maori: parai, raupane
• Navajo: tseeʼé
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: stekepanne (no) m, steikepanne (no) m or f

• Ottoman Turkish: تاوه (tava), طغان (tığan)
• Portuguese: frigideira (pt) f
• Russian: сковорода (ru) f (skovoroda)
• Serbo-Croatian: tava (sh), tiganj (sh)
• Spanish: sartén (es)
• Swedish: stekpanna (sv) c, stekplåt (sv) c
• Ukrainian: пате́льня (uk) (patélʹnja), сковорода́ (uk) (skovorodá)
• Yup'ik: eskuulutaq

dish or meal cooked in such a pan

• Dutch: eenpansgerecht
• German: Pfannengericht n, Pfanne (de) f

Verb

skillet (third-person singular simple present skillets, present participle skilleting, simple past and past participle skilleted)

1. (US) To cook in a skillet.
   • 1960, The Cattleman, volume 47, page 46:

     Now that the season has arrived in many parts of the country for the nimrods to load their trusty Thirty-Thirties and go forth in quest of the elusive deer, it seems an appropriate time to say a word about the skilleting of venison — which can be a pretty tough and dry proposition if not properly handled.

   • 2010, David Lawday, The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life:

     That said, Danton in manhood is probed and skilleted, admired and reviled in a multitude of memoirs written by contemporaries who love him, loathe him or simply stand and watch as the Danton tempest roars past.

Translations

to cook in a skillet

• Finnish: paistaa paistinpannulla
• Maori: parai

Usage notes

Although somewhat common, skillet is less common than frying pan in American English. It is not likely to be recognized in British English, where the term frying pan is more commonly used. When it is used in current British English, skillet only ever refers to frying pans that are large and heavy and never to ones that are small and light.

Anagrams

• killest

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

skillet n

1. definite singular of skille