# teat

> English word · Noun · IPA /tiːt/ · frequency rank #53,293

## Definitions
1. The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female therian mammals, milk is secreted.
2. Something resembling a teat, such as a small protuberance or nozzle.
3. An artificial nipple used for bottle-feeding infants.

## Etymology
From Middle English tete, from Old French tete (“teat”) (compare French tette), from Frankish *tittā, *tittō, from Proto-Germanic *tittaz (“teat; nipple; breast”), ultimately of expressive origin. Compare Old High German zizza ("teat"; modern German Zitze), whence also Italian zizza (“teat”).
It heavily displaced Old English titt, a cognate of the same origin, which survives as tit, but in more vulgar use. Compare Dutch tiet and German Zitze (“teat”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/teat