vat

Meanings

Noun

• A large tub, such as is used for making wine or for tanning.
• A square, hollow place on the back of a calcining furnace, where tin ore is laid to dry.
• A vessel for holding holy water.
• A liquid measure and dry measure; especially, a liquid measure in Belgium and Holland, corresponding to the hectolitre of the metric system, which contains 22.01 imperial gallons, or 26.4 standard gallons in the United States.

Verb

• To put into a vat.
• To blend (wines or spirits) in a vat; figuratively, to mix or blend elements as if with wines or spirits.

Origin

• From Middle English vat, a dialectal variant of fat, from Old English fæt ("vat, vessel"), from Proto-Germanic *fatą ("vessel"), from Proto-Indo-European *pod- ("vessel"). Cognate with Scots fat, vat, vautt, West Frisian fet, Dutch vat ("barrel, cask, vessel, vat"), German Fass ("barrel, keg, drum, cask, vat"), Danish fad ("saucer, dish"), Swedish fat ("dish, barrel, cask, vat"), Icelandic fat ("dish, saucer"). See fat.