tooth
UK /tuːθ/ · US /tuθ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms teeth tooths toothing toothed
- noun A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for biting and chewing food. “tooth decay”
- noun A sharp projection on the blade of a saw or similar implement.
- noun A projection on the edge of a gear that meshes with similar projections on adjacent gears, or on the circumference of a cog that engages with a chain.
- noun (cordage) The property of resisting slippage when knotted. “Jute has more tooth than polypropylene.”
- noun (zoology) A projection or point in other parts of the body resembling the tooth of a vertebrate animal.
- noun (botany) A pointed projection from the margin of a leaf.
- noun (animation) The rough surface of some kinds of cel or other films that allows better adhesion of artwork.
- noun (figurative) Liking, fondness (compare toothsome). “I have a sweet tooth: I love sugary treats.”
- verb To provide or furnish with teeth.
- verb To indent; to jag.
- verb To lock into each other, like gear wheels.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English toth, tothe, tooth, from Old English tōþ, from Proto-West Germanic *tanþ, from Proto-Germanic *tanþs, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts (“tooth”). Doublet of dent, dens, tind, and tine. Related to tusk.
Cognate with Scots tuith (“tooth”), North Frisian Ter, teän, tosch, toske, tuis, tus, tusch, täis (“tooth”), Saterland Frisian Tusk (“tooth”), West Frisian tosk (“tooth”), Bavarian Zåhn (“tooth”), Dutch tand (“tooth”), German Zahn (“tooth”), Limburgish tandj (“tooth”), Luxembourgish Zant (“tooth”), Vilamovian cōn (“tooth”), Yiddish צאָן (tson, “tooth”), Danish and Swedish tand (“tooth”), Faroese tonn (“tooth”), Icelandic tönn (“tooth”), Norn *tann, *tant (“tooth”), Norwegian Bokmål tann (“tooth”), Norwegian Nynorsk tann, tonn (“tooth”), Breton and Welsh dant (“tooth”), Cornish dans (“tooth”), Irish déad (“tooth”), Scottish Gaelic deud (“tooth”), Asturian, Leonese, Mirandese, and Spanish diente (“tooth”), Aragonese dien (“tooth”), Catalan and French dent (“tooth”), Galician, Italian, and Portuguese dente (“tooth”), Romanian dinte (“tooth”), Latin dēns (“tooth”), Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús), ὀδών (odṓn, “tooth”), Lithuanian dantis (“tooth”), Belarusian дзясна́ (dzjasná, “gum”), Bulgarian and Russian десна (desna, “gum”), Czech dáseň (“gum”), Polish dziąsło (“gum”), Serbo-Croatian dȇsni (“gum”), Slovak ďasno (“gum”), Slovene dlesni (“gum”), Ukrainian я́сна (jásna, “gum”), Armenian ատամ (atam, “tooth”), Ossetian дӕндаг (dændag, “tooth”), Baluchi دنتان (dantán), دتھاں (datʰāⁿ, “tooth”), Central Kurdish ددان (ddan, “tooth”), Northern Kurdish didan, diran (“tooth”), Persian دندان (dandân, “tooth”), Sanskrit दत् (dat), दन्त (danta, “tooth”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of the hard, bony appendages which are borne on the jaws, or on other bones in the walls of the mouth or pharynx of most vertebrates, and which usually aid in the prehension and mastication of food.
- noun Fig.: Taste; palate.
- verb To furnish with teeth.
- verb To indent; to jag; as, to tooth a saw.
Etymology [OE. toth,tooth, AS. ttth, OS. & D. tand, OHG. zang, zan, G. zahn, Icel. tnn, Sw. & Dan. tand, Goth. tumpus, Lith. dantis, W. dant, L. dens, dentis, Gr. danta; probably originally the p. pr. of the verb to eat. *239. Cf. Eat, Dandelion, Dent the tooth of a wheel, Dental, Dentist, Indent, Tine of a fork, Tusk.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tooth”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details