What does burette mean?
A burette is a long, graduated glass tube fitted with a stopcock at its lower end, designed to deliver accurately measured volumes of liquid. It is an essential instrument of analytical chemistry, where it plays the central role in titration: a solution of known concentration is added dropwise from the burette into a sample until a reaction endpoint is reached, and the exact volume delivered determines the concentration being sought. Because precision matters so much in this work, careful technique surrounds the burette's use — it must be rinsed with the solution it will contain, checked for air bubbles, and read at eye level with the bottom of the liquid's curved surface, the meniscus. The word comes from French, reflecting the long tradition of French contributions to chemistry. Although essentially a laboratory term, the burette is familiar to anyone who has studied school or university chemistry, making it one of the more recognisable pieces of scientific glassware.
nounA graduated glass tube fitted with a stopcock at one end, used in chemical analysis — especially titration — to deliver precisely measured volumes of liquid.
- A graduated glass or plastic tube with a tap (stopcock) at its lower end, used in analytical chemistry to measure and deliver precise volumes of a solution, most commonly during titration.
- By extension, any similar measuring apparatus used to dispense controlled amounts of fluid in laboratory settings.
"She slowly opened the stopcock of the burette, allowing the sodium hydroxide solution to drip into the flask until the indicator turned pink."
"The student clamped the burette to the stand and recorded the initial volume before beginning the titration."
"Fill the burette with the standardised potassium permanganate solution, ensuring no air bubbles remain in the tip."
Regular plural; used when referring to multiple instruments, e.g. in describing a laboratory bench equipped for several simultaneous titrations.
"Each workbench was lined with burettes filled and ready for the practical exam."
Read a burette at the bottom of the meniscus, not the top — get it wrong by even half a millilitre and your entire titration result is off.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of burette
Burette derives from the French word burette, a diminutive meaning a small jug or flask, itself formed from buire, an old French term for a jug or ewer. French chemists adopted the term for the slender graduated tubes they developed for volumetric analysis in the eighteenth century, and English borrowed it directly from French as the technique spread. Its ultimate roots are often traced to Latin butticula, a diminutive of buttis (a cask), which also gave rise to words like bottle and butt.
How burette is actually used
Burette is a technical term confined mainly to chemistry laboratories and science education; it carries no informal register. In British English the final syllable may be pronounced /-ɛt/ as in 'billet', while American speakers often say /-eɪ/ ('bur-AY'); both are standard.
Easily confused with burette
A burette delivers variable volumes of liquid through a stopcock at the bottom during titration, while a pipette dispenses a fixed volume of liquid.