saucer

Meanings

Noun

• A small shallow dish to hold a cup and catch drips.
• An object round and gently curved (shaped like a saucer).
• A small pan or vessel in which sauce was set on a table.
• A flat, shallow caisson for raising sunken ships.
• A shallow socket for the pivot of a capstan.

Verb

• To pour (tea, etc.) from the cup into the saucer in order to cool it before drinking.

Origin

• From Middle English saucer, from Old French saussier (and feminine saussiere; hence modern French saucier, saucière).