Dictionary

beaker en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbiːkə(ɹ)/ (UK)
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈbiːkɚ/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English bekyr, biker, from Old Norse bikarr (“cup”), from Old Saxon bikeri (“cup”), from Proto-West Germanic *bikārī, from Late Latin bīcārium (“wine vat, jug”), of disputed origin. Possibly from Ancient Greek βῖκος (bîkos, “earthenware jug, wine jar”), or from Latin bacarium (“wine vat, vase”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bieker (“mug, cup, beaker”), Dutch beker (“beaker, cup”), German Becher (“beaker, cup, goblet”), Danish bæger (“beaker”), Italian bicchiere (“cup, glass (for drink)”). Doublet of pitcher.

Meanings

1. A flat-bottomed, straight-sided, glass vessel, with a lip and often a small spout, used as a laboratory container.
2. A drinking vessel without a handle.
   • The beakers of mead spilled in huge puddles. 1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 30:
3. A mug.
4. An ancient bell-shaped ceramic pot with a wide mouth, narrow neck, and flaring body, used by the Beaker people during the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age.
5. (qualifier:Antarctica, slang) A scientist.
   • […] at every meal break he shambled into the galley black-fingered and smelling of engine-grease and concrete floors, to contemplate over his meal the beakers at their round tables chatting away, completely oblivious […] 2008, Kim Stanley Robinson, Antarctica, page 52:

Forms

Deriveds

fleaker · beaker folk · beakerful · beaker people

Descendants

bíocar · bicer

Hyponyms

tumbler (drinking vessel without a handle) · glass (2nd definition) (drinking vessel without a handle)

Translations (73)

fi dekantterilasi (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · ja ビーカー (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · pt béquer (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · nl tas (mug) · es vaso de precipitación (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · no krus (drinking vessel without a handle) · kn ಚುಂಚುಪಾತ್ರೆ (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · nl mok (mug) · ko 비커 (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · pt gobelé (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · bg ча́ша (drinking vessel without a handle) · he ספל (mug) · mk мензу́ра (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · frr baager (mug) · es matraz (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · he גָבִיעַ (drinking vessel without a handle) · grc δέπας (drinking vessel without a handle) · ga bíocar (drinking vessel without a handle) · ru стака́н (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · gl pichel (mug) · da bægerglas (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · no beger (drinking vessel without a handle) · mk ча́ша (drinking vessel without a handle) · bg лабораторна чаша (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · it becher (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · de Becherglas (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · ga muga (mug) · nb begerglass (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · gl vaso (drinking vessel without a handle) · ms bikar (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · fi keitinlasi (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · nl beker (mug) · nl beker (drinking vessel without a handle) · bg стака́н (drinking vessel without a handle) · fi muki (drinking vessel without a handle) · mk ка́на (mug) · nn begerglas (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · nl bekerglas (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · fi muki (mug) · pl zlewka (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · it bicchiere (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · ru кру́жка (mug) · sv mugg (drinking vessel without a handle) · fr gobelet (drinking vessel without a handle) · de Becher (mug) · ru ку́бок (drinking vessel without a handle) · frr baager (drinking vessel without a handle) · sv mugg (mug) · frr baager (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · bg кана (mug) · ru мензу́рка (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · cy mẁg (mug) · es vaso de precipitados (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · de Becher (drinking vessel without a handle) · ru пиа́ла (drinking vessel without a handle) · tl lumbo (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · gl vaso (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · ru стака́н (drinking vessel without a handle) · cy bicer (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · pl kubek (drinking vessel without a handle) · mk бо́кал (mug) · hu főzőpohár (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · pl kubek (mug) · fa بشر (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · ru ча́ша (drinking vessel without a handle) · fr bécher (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · ca vas de precipitats (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · cmn 燒杯 /烧杯 (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · id gelas piala (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · sl čaša (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · ga eascra (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · sv bägare (flat-bottomed laboratory vessel) · la obba (drinking vessel without a handle)