Advertisement

Origin and history of gridiron

gridiron(n.)

cooking utensil for broiling over a fire, early 14c., griderne, alteration (by association with iron) of gridire (late 13c.), a variant of gridil (see griddle). Confusion of "l" and "r" was common in Norman dialect. Also a medieval instrument of torture by fire. As the word for a U.S. football field, by 1896, for its lines.

also from early 14c.

Entries linking to gridiron

griddle(n.)

shallow frying pan, early 13c., apparently from Anglo-French gridil, Old North French gredil, altered from Old French graille "grill, grating," from Latin craticula "small griddle" (see grill (n.)). Griddle-cake is from 1783.

grid(n.)

1839, shortening of gridiron or griddle. The city planning sense is from 1954 (hence gridlock). The meaning "network of transmission lines" attested by 1926.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    grill
    "gridiron, grated utensil for broiling over a fire," 1680s, from French gril, from Old French greil, alteration of graille..."grill, grating, railings, fencing" (13c.), from Latin craticula "gridiron, small griddle," diminutive of cratis "wickerwork...
    roster
    service of those who relieve or succeed one another," from Dutch rooster "table, list," a transferred use, originally "gridiron...
    roast
    hraustjan (cognate with Old High German rosten, German rösten, Middle Dutch roosten "to roast"), originally "cook on a grate or gridiron...," related to Germanic words meaning "gridiron, grate;" such as German Rost, Middle Dutch roost, from Proto-Germanic *raustijanan...
    field
    Old English feld "plain, pasture, open land, cultivated land" (as opposed to woodland), also "a parcel of land marked off and used for pasture or tillage," probably related to Old English folde "earth, land," from Proto-Germanic *felthan "flat land" (Cognates: Old Saxon and Old F
    gird
    Old English gyrdan "put a belt or girdle around; encircle; bind with flexible material; invest with attributes," from Proto-Germanic *gurdjan (source also of Old Norse gyrða, Old Saxon gurdian, Old Frisian gerda, Dutch gorden, Old High German gurtan, German gürten), from PIE *ghr
    iron
    Middle English iron, iren, yron, from Old English iren, variant (with rhotacism of -s-) of isen, later form of isern, isærn "the metal iron; an iron weapon or instrument," from Proto-Germanic *isarn (source also of Old Saxon isarn, Old Frisian isern, Old Norse isarn, Middle Dutch
    football
    open-air game involving kicking a ball, c. 1400; in reference to the inflated ball used in the game, mid-14c. ("Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe," Octavian I manuscript, c. 1350), from foot (n.) + ball (n.1). Forbidden in a Scottish statute of 1424. One of Shake
    experiment
    mid-14c., "action of observing or testing; an observation, test, or trial;" also "piece of evidence or empirical proof; feat of magic or sorcery," from Old French esperment "practical knowledge, cunning; enchantment, magic spell; trial, proof, example; lesson, sign, indication,"
    nice
    late 13c., "foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless," from Old French nice (12c.) "careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish," from Latin nescius "ignorant, unaware," literally "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (from PIE root *ne- "not") + stem of scire "to
    proverb
    c. 1300, in boke of Prouerbyys, the Old Testament work, from Old French proverbe (12c.) and directly from Latin proverbium "a common saying, old adage, maxim," literally "words put forward," from pro "forth" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward") + verbum "word" (see verb). Hence, i

    Share gridiron

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near gridiron
    Advertisement