A teaspoon (tsp.) is an item of

cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware), includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. The city of Sheffie ...

. It is a small

spoon A spoon is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for ...

that can be used to stir a cup of tea or coffee, or as a tool for

measuring Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events. In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared t ...

volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...

. The size of teaspoons ranges from about . For cooking purposes and dosing of medicine, a teaspoonful is defined as , and standard

measuring spoon A measuring spoon is a spoon used to measure an amount of an ingredient, either liquid or dry, when cooking. Measuring spoons may be made of plastic, metal, and other materials. They are available in many sizes, including the teaspoon and tab ...

s are used.

Cutlery

Kaffeesahne Keks und Tasse Kaffee Mai 2012

A teaspoon is a small

suitable for stirring and sipping the contents of a cup of

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

, or adding a portion of loose sugar to it. These spoons have heads more or less oval in shape. Teaspoons are a common part of a

place setting Table setting (laying a table) or place setting refers to the way to set a table with tableware—such as eating utensils and for serving and eating. The arrangement for a single diner is called a place setting. It is also the layout in which th ...

. Teaspoons with longer handles, such as

iced tea spoon An iced tea spoon, also called a soda spoon or a latte spoon, is a thin spoon with a very long handle. It is used primarily in the United States, for stirring sugar or other sweeteners into iced tea, which is traditionally served in a tall glass. ...

s, are commonly used also for

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

desserts or floats. Similar spoons include the

tablespoon A tablespoon (tbsp. , Tbsp. , Tb. , or T.) is a large spoon. In many English-speaking regions, the term now refers to a large spoon used for serving; however, in some regions, it is the largest type of spoon used for eating. By extension, the ter ...

and the

dessert spoon A dessert spoon is a spoon designed specifically for eating dessert and sometimes used for soup or cereals. Similar in size to a soup spoon (intermediate between a teaspoon and a tablespoon) but with an oval rather than round bowl, it typically h ...

, the latter intermediate in size between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, used in eating dessert and sometimes soup or cereals. Much less common is the coffee spoon, which is a smaller version of the teaspoon, intended for use with the small type of coffee cup. Another teaspoon, called an ''orange spoon'' (in American English: grapefruit spoon), tapers to a sharp point or teeth, and is used to separate

citrus fruits ''Citrus'' is a genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biologica ...

from their membranes. A

bar spoon A bar spoon is a long-handled spoon used in bartending for mixing and layering of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic mixed drinks. Its length ensures that it can reach the bottom of the tallest jug or tumbler to mix ingredients directly in the glass ...

, equivalent to a teaspoon, is used in measuring ingredients for

mixed drink A mixed drink is a beverage in which two or more ingredients are mixed. Types * List of non-alcoholic mixed drinks -- A non-alcoholic mixed drink (also known as virgin cocktail, boneless cocktail, temperance drink, or mocktail) is a cocktail-st ...

s. A container designed to hold extra teaspoons, called a ''spooner'', usually in a set with a covered sugar container, formed a part of Victorian table service.

History

Teaspoon is a European invention. Small spoons were common in Europe since at least the 13th century, the special spoons were introduced almost simultaneously with the tea and coffee (Pettigrew points to use in the mid-17th century). Originally the teaspoons were exotic items, precious and small, resembling the

demitasse spoon A demitasse spoon is a diminutive spoon, smaller than a teaspoon. It is traditionally used for coffee drinks in specialty cups, such as a demitasse, and for spooning cappuccino A cappuccino (; ; Italian plural: ''cappuccini'') is an espresso- ...

s of the later times. Also used for coffee, these spoons were usually made of

gilt silver Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver (either pure or sterling) which has been gilded with gold. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually ...

, and were available with a variety of handle shapes: plain, twisted, decorated with knobs, also known as ''knops'', hence the ''knop-top'' name for such spoons. Widespread use and modern size date back to the

Georgian era The Georgian era was a period in British history from 1714 to , named after the Hanoverian Kings George I, George II, George III and George IV. The definition of the Georgian era is often extended to include the relatively short reign of Willi ...

. The teaspoon is first mentioned in an advertisement in a 1686 edition of the ''London Gazette'', teaspoons, probably of English origin, are present on the 1700 Dutch painting by

Nicholas Verkolje Nicolaas Verkolje (11 April 1673, Delft – 21 January 1746, Amsterdam), was a Dutch painter and mezzotint maker. Biography According to Houbraken he was the son of Jan Verkolje and the only one of 5 children to carry on his art.