teat

Definition

The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female therian mammals, milk is secreted.

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”).

Example Sentences

• "Milk formed their chief diet, and this they were supposed to imbibe from the witch herself, from a third "teat" which had been made beneath the arm by a nip from the Devil's pincers."

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