cupboard
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkʌb.əd/
ipa: /ˈkʌb.ɚd/
ipa: /ˈkɐb.əd/
ipa: /ˈkʌp.boɹd/
note: Indic
ipa: /kəˈbo(ɾ)d/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈkəbə(ɾ)d/
ipa: /ˈkʊbəd/
note: Ottawa Valley
ipa: /ˈkʊbərd/
rhymes: -ʌbə(ɹ)d
Forms: form: cupboards
form: cobbarde
form: cobbourd
form: coberde
form: cobord
form: copbord
form: copborde
form: copbourd
form: copbourde
form: copburd
form: copburde
form: couborde
form: cowbard
form: cubbard
form: cubbarde
form: cubberd
form: cubbert
form: cubboard
form: cubboorde
form: cubbord
form: cubborde
form: cupbert
form: cupbard
form: cupboarde
form: cupboord
form: cupbord
form: cupborde
form: cupbourd
form: cupbourde
form: cupburd
form: cupburde
form: cuppord
form: cupporde
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English cuppeborde, cupbord. Equivalent to cup + board. Phonetic variants show that the /p/ in the original forms had assimilated to the present-day /b/ by the 16th century; the etymological spelling has, however, dominated from the 18th century.
Senses: examples: text: Cupboꝛde of plate or to ſette plate upon buffet z ma.
ref: 1530 July 18, Iohan Palſgrave, “The thirde boke”, in Leſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe […] , London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, page 203; reprinted as Lesclarcissement de la langue françoyse, Genève: Slatkine Reprints, 1972:
text: from the cobbarde byſyde owr dyninge table
ref: 1555, Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, “The fourth booke of the seconde Decade, of the supposed Continent”, in Richard Eden, transl., Decades of the New World, page 68:
text: Now when the maids and pages all were gone, / One onely lampe upon the cubbard burning[…]
ref: 1591, Ludovico Ariosto, translated by Sir John Harington, Orlando Furioso, London: G. Miller, translation of original in Italian, published 1634, book XXV, stanza 49, page 201:
glosses: A board or table used to openly hold and display silver plate and other dishware; a sideboard; a buffet.
examples: text: But howe comme to pas, / Your cupbord that was / Is tourned to glasse, / From syluere to brasse, / From golde to pewter, / Or els to a newter, / To copper, to tyn, / To lede, or alcumyn?
ref: a. 1529, John Skelton, Why Come Ye Nat to Courte?; published in John Skelton; Alexander Dyce, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: With Notes, and Some Account of the Author and His Writings, by the Rev. Alexander Dyce. In Two Volumes., volume II, London: Thomas Rodd, Great Newport Street, 1843, OCLC 733571702, page 54, lines 897–904
glosses: Things displayed on a sideboard; dishware, particularly valuable plate.
examples: text: Put the cups back into the cupboard.
text: Cupborde to putte meate in – dressover s, m.
ref: 1530 July 18, Iohan Palſgrave, Leſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe […] , London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, page 211; reprinted as L'éclaircissement de la langue française par Jean Palsgrave […] , Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1852:
text: Old Mother Hubbard / Went to the cupboard, / To give the poor dog a bone; / When she came there, / The cupboard was bare, / And so the poor dog had none.
ref: 1814 May 1, “Minimus” [pseudonym], “Fine Arts”, in The Satirist, or Monthly Meteor, volume XIV, number 18 (New Series), London: Printed for Samuel Tipper by T. Gillet, →OCLC, page 417:
text: A cupboard with shelves for music-books.
ref: 1874, J[ohn] T[homas] Micklethwaite, Modern Parish Churches: Their Plan, Design, and Furniture, London: Henry S. King & Co. 65 Cornhill and 12 Paternoster Row, →OCLC, page 161:
text: As he had figured it out so far, the cupboard, or the key, or both together, brought plastic things to life, or if they were already alive, turned them into plastic. There were a lot of questions to be answered, though. Did it only work with plastic? Would, say, wooden or metal figures also come to life if shut up in the cupboard?
ref: 1980, Lynne Reid Banks, “Thirty Scalps”, in The Indian in the Cupboard, London: J. M. Dent, →ISBN:
text: Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.
ref: 1997, J[oanne] K[athleen] Rowling, “The Vanishing Glass”, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:
glosses: A cabinet, closet, or other piece of furniture with shelves intended for storing cookware, dishware, or food; similar cabinets or closets used for storing other items.
examples: text: Some men they [make] love for what they can get, / And 'tis certain there's many a Lubbard; / Will sigh and will pant, seeming ready to faint, / And all for the love of the cubbard, brave boys! / And all [for the love of the Cup-board].
ref: c. 1665, Roxburghe Ballads; published as J[oseph] W[oodfall] Ebsworth, editor, The Roxburghe Ballads: Illustrating the Last Years of the Stuarts, volume VI, Hertford: Printed for the Ballad Society by S. Austin and Sons, 1871–1899, OCLC 13767296, page 529, lines 26–30
glosses: Things stored in a cupboard; particularly food.
examples: text: I hung the coat in the cupboard and bided my time.
ref: 2023, Susie Boyt, “Hot under the collar: the coat of your dreams”, in Financial Times, London: The Financial Times Ltd:
glosses: A closet for storing coats.
Synonyms: sense: furniture used to display tableware
word: sideboard
sense: kitchen or dining-room closet
word: pantry
sense: kitchen or dining-room closet
word: larder
Hypernyms: sense: storage built into a wall
word: closet
sense: storage built onto a wall
word: cabinet
sense: furniture used for general storage
english: Irish & Scots
translation: Irish & Scots
word: press
sense: furniture used for general storage
word: wardrobe
sense: furniture used for general storage
word: closet
Derived terms: airing cupboard
boiler cupboard
broom cupboard
court-cupboard
cry cupboard
cupboard cloth
cupboard door
cupboard faith
cupboardful
cupboardless
cupboard library
cupboardlike
cupboard-like
cupboard love
cupboard lover
cupboard-man
cupboardwise
cupboardy
fume cupboard
hot cupboard
ice cupboard
linen cupboard
skeleton in one's cupboard
skeleton in the cupboard
store cupboard
the cupboard is bare