tablespoon

English

Alternative forms

• table spoon, table-spoon

Etymology

From table +‎ spoon.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈteɪbəlˌspuːn/, [-bɫ̩-]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈteɪbəlˌspun/, [-bɫ̩-]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

tablespoon (plural tablespoons)

1. (Canada, US) A large spoon, used for eating food from a bowl.
   • 1840, John James Audubon, The Birds of America‎^[1], volume 1, page 178:

     Their eggs were deposited on a few bits of straw, and great caution was necessary in attempting to procure them, as the slightest touch crumbled their frail tenement into dust. By means of a tablespoon, I was enabled to procure many of them.

   Synonyms: (Australia, New Zealand, Northern UK) dessertspoon, dessert spoon

2. (Australia, New Zealand, Northern UK) A spoon too large for eating, usually used for cooking or serving.
3. (cooking) A unit of volume, the value of which varies regionally; in the US: three teaspoons or one half fluid ounce or roughly 15 ml; in Britain and Canada: exactly 15 ml; in Russia 18 ml; in Australia: four teaspoons or 20 ml.
   • 1995 May 22, Salad Recipes, New York, page 51,

     Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a nonstick skillet until hot and quickly saute the goat-cheese buttons on both sides until brown.

   • 2003, Better Homes and Gardens, Biggest Book of Bread Machine Recipes‎^[2], page 416:

     In Australia, 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml, and there are 4 teaspoons in the Australian tablespoon.

   • 2006, Tempted: 150 Very Wicked Desserts, Murdoch Books, UK, copyright page,

     If you are using a 15 ml (3 teaspoon) tablespoon, for most recipes the difference will not be noticeable.

   • 2012, James Armstrong, Kellee Hollyman, General, Organic, and Biochemistry: An Applied Approach, Cengage Learning, US, page 27,

     The problem gives us a number of tablespoons of cooking oil and asks us to convert this amount into milliliters. We are also told that one tablespoon equals 3 teaspoons, but this is a relationship between two units, not an actual measurement.

   Synonyms: tablespoonful, tbsp, tbs, (apothecaries' notation) f℥ss, (apothecaries' notation) f℥ß

Related terms

• tablespoonful

Translations

a large spoon, used for eating food

• Bulgarian: супена лъжица f (supena lǎžica)
• Catalan: cullera de sopa f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 湯匙／汤匙 (tong¹ ci⁴), 湯羹／汤羹 (tong¹ gang¹)

  Mandarin: 大湯匙／大汤匙 (dà tāngchí), 湯匙／汤匙 (zh) (tāngchí)

• Czech: lžíce (cs) f, polévková lžíce f
• Danish: spiseske c
• Dutch: eetlepel (nl) m, soeplepel (nl) m
• Esperanto: supkulero
• Finnish: ruokalusikka (fi)
• French: cuillère à soupe (fr) f, grande cuillère (fr) f
• German: Esslöffel (de) m
• Greek: κουτάλι (el) n (koutáli), κουτάλι σούπας n (koutáli soúpas)
• Hebrew: כַּף (he) f
• Hungarian: evőkanál (hu)
• Icelandic: matskeið f
• Ingrian: söökkilusikka
• Irish: spúnóg mhór f
• Italian: cucchiaio da tavola m
• Japanese: さじ (ja) (saji), スプーン (ja) (supūn), テーブルスプーン (tēburusupūn)
• Korean: 큰스푼 (keunseupun)
• Lithuanian: valgomasis šaukštas m
• Luxembourgish: Iessläffel m
• Manx: spein buird m
• Norwegian: suppeskje m or f
• Plautdietsch: Ätläpel m
• Polish: łyżka (pl) f, łyżka stołowa f
• Portuguese: colher (pt) f, colher de sopa f
• Russian: столо́вая ло́жка f (stolóvaja lóžka), ло́жка (ru) f (lóžka), супова́я ло́жка f (supovája lóžka)
• Scottish Gaelic: spàin-bhùird f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ка̀шика f, жли̏ца f, лижка f

  Roman: kàšika (sh) f, žlȉca (sh) f, ližka f

• Slovak: lyžica (sk) f
• Spanish: cuchara de sopa f, cuchara (es) f
• Turkish: yemek kaşığı (tr)
• Ukrainian: столо́ва ло́жка f (stolóva lóžka)
• Vietnamese: muỗng canh
• Volapük: fidaspun (vo)
• Waray-Waray: kutsara
• Welsh: llwy fwrdd

Australia: a spoon for cooking

• Danish: grydeske c
• Finnish: keittolusikka (fi)
• French: louche (fr) f, cuiller à pot (fr) f
• German: Kochlöffel (de) m
• Greek: κουτάλα (el) f (koutála)
• Maori: pune nui

a unit of measure

• Bulgarian: супена лъжица f (supena lǎžica)
• Catalan: cullerada (ca) f
• Czech: polévková lžíce f, lžíce (cs) f
• Danish: spiseske c, spiseskefuld c
• Dutch: eetlepel (nl) m
• Esperanto: supkulero
• Finnish: ruokalusikallinen, ruokalusikka (fi)
• French: cuillère à soupe (fr) f
• German: Esslöffel (de) m
• Greek: κουταλιά (el) n (koutaliá), κουταλιά της σούπας n (koutaliá tis soúpas)
• Gujarati: ચમચો m (camco)
• Icelandic: matskeið f
• Italian: cucchiaiata (it) f
• Japanese: 大さじ (ōsaji)
• Ladino: kucharika f
• Polish: łyżka (pl) f, łyżka stołowa f
• Portuguese: colher de sopa f
• Romanian: lingură (ro) f
• Russian: столо́вая ло́жка f (stolóvaja lóžka)
• Scottish Gaelic: spàin-bhùird f
• Spanish: cucharada (es) f
• Swedish: matsked (sv) c
• Thai: ช้อนโต๊ะ (th) (chɔ́ɔn-dtó)
• Turkish: yemek kaşığı (tr)
• Welsh: llwy fwrdd

See also

• cutlery
• dessertspoon, dessert spoon
• silverware
• soupspoon, soup spoon
• teaspoon, tea spoon