American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

, a pitcher is a container with a spout used for storing and pouring liquids. In English-speaking countries outside

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, a jug is any container with a handle and a mouth and spout for liquid – American "pitchers" will be called jugs elsewhere. Generally a pitcher also has a handle, which makes pouring easier. Ewer is an older word for a pitcher or jug of any type, though tending to be used for a vase-shaped pitcher, often decorated, with a base and a flaring spout. The word is now unusual in informal English describing ordinary domestic vessels. A notable ewer is the

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

, which is awarded to the winning team of the America's Cup sailing regatta match. Milk Pitcher With Lid

In modern British English, the only use of "pitcher" is when beer is sold by the pitcher in bars and restaurants, following the American style.

Etymology

The word ''pitcher'' comes from the 13th-century Middle English word ''picher'', which means earthen jug. The word ''picher'' is linked to the Old French word ''pichier'', which is the altered version of the word ''bichier'', meaning drinking cup. The word's origin goes as far back to the Medieval Latin word ' from the Greek word ''βῖκος'' : ''bîkos'', which meant earthen vessel. Compare with Dutch ''beker'', German ''Becher'', English ' and Italian '.

Ancient examples

In the typology of Greek vase shapes jug or pitcher shapes include various types of oenochoe, and the ''olpe''. An early mention of a pitcher occurs in the Book of Genesis, when

Rebekah Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

comes to Abraham's servant bearing a vessel with water. In the Book of Judges,

Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiez ...

gives empty pitchers containing lamps to three hundred men divided into three companies. In the gospels of Mark and

Luke People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

, Jesus tells two of his disciples to go into the city of Jerusalem, where they will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water (Greek: ''κεράμιον ὕδατος'' : ''kerámion hydatos''), and instructs them to follow him to locate the

upper room The Cenacle (from the Latin , "dining room"), also known as the Upper Room (from the Koine Greek and , both meaning "upper room"), is a room in Mount Zion in Jerusalem, just outside the Old City walls, traditionally held to be the site of th ...

to be used for the Last Supper. The pitcher of Marwan Ibn Mohammad, on display at the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, predates the 8th century. During the Tang dynasty, ewers fashioned from glazed

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...

bore illustrations of Persian textiles and metalwork and depicted increased cultural diversity in populated Chinese cities. Once coveted by the upper classes, ewers eventually became commonplace.

Idiomatic usage

The proverb "little pitchers have big ears" cautions adults that children are not always as naïve as they seem.

Gallery

File:Ewer MET 2 9r2 34J.jpg, Austrian ewer, 1775, silver, height: 48 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art. File:MuseAcrotiriItems-133-134-6645-2 (cropped).JPG,

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...

ewers, early 17th century BC, from Akrotiri (

Santorini Santorini ( el, Σαντορίνη, ), officially Thira (Greek: Θήρα ) and classical Greek Thera (English pronunciation ), is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from the Greek mainland. It is the ...

Museum of Prehistoric Thera The Museum of Prehistoric Thera ( el, Μουσείο Προϊστορικής Θήρας) is located in Fira, on the island of Santorini in Greece. It was built on the site of the old Ypapanti Church which was destroyed in the 1956 Amorgos earthq ...

(Santorini, Greece). File:Craesbeeck Wedding in a peasant house.jpg, Objects used in a 17th-century painting in the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

in Warsaw depicting a wedding in a peasant house are an allusion. File:Pitcher with Black on White Geometric Designs, 900-1300, 01.1538.1756.jpg, Pitcher with Black on White Geometric Designs, Anasazi (Native American), 900-1300 AD.

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

. File:Pichet amiral Nelson - Musée de la Révolution française.jpg, Pitcher decorated with Admiral Nelson, 1795, Musée de la Révolution française. File:Pitcher and Glass of Yukon Gold Beer - Klondike Kate's - Dawson City - Yukon Territory - Canada.jpg, Pitcher of beer. File:Khalili Collection Islamic Art gls 0275.1.jpg, alt=9th–11th century AD. a pear-shaped ewer with almond-shaped mouth, Large Ewer, Iran or Egypt 9th–11th century AD, held by the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art. This is the largest specimen known so far of a popular Islamic glass form – the pear-shaped ewer with almond-shaped mouth. The shape can be traced back to Sasanian glass ewers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitcher (Container) Storage vessels Glass containers Beer vessels and serving Pottery shapes Liquid containers fr:Pichet

Etymology

Ancient examples

Idiomatic usage

Gallery

See also

References