What does crockpot mean?
A crockpot is a countertop electric appliance designed to cook food slowly and gently over many hours. It consists of a lidded pot made of glazed ceramic or porcelain, which sits inside a metal housing containing a heating element. Food is typically assembled in the morning, left unattended on a low setting, and is ready by dinnertime — a convenience that made the device a staple of busy households. Although 'crockpot' originated as the trademarked name of a specific product introduced by the Rival company in 1971, it has become a widely used generic term, much like 'kleenex' or 'aspirin', so that many people say 'crockpot' even when referring to another maker's slow cooker. In Britain and elsewhere, the neutral term 'slow cooker' is more common. The word carries warm, homey connotations of comfort food, stews, and hands-off cooking, and it remains firmly rooted in informal, everyday kitchen vocabulary.
nounA small electric cooking appliance consisting of a glazed ceramic pot set inside a heated metal housing, used to simmer food slowly at low temperature over several hours. The term also refers generically to any such slow cooker, having spread from its original use as a brand name.
- An electric slow-cooking appliance with an insert of glazed ceramic or porcelain set in a heated housing.
- (Genericized from the trademark) Any slow cooker of this type, regardless of manufacturer.
"She left a beef stew simmering in the crockpot all day while she was at work."
"Toss the ingredients into the crockpot before you leave for work and dinner will be ready by evening."
"This chili recipe was developed specifically for a crockpot, so the flavors deepen over eight hours of low heat."
Standard pluralization applies; often used when discussing multiple appliances or recipes written for them.
"The test kitchen ran three crockpots side by side to compare cooking times."
The crockpot began as a single company's trademark — Rival's Crock-Pot, launched in 1971 — but became so popular that the brand name slipped into everyday language as a generic word for any slow cooker.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does crockpot come from?
The word 'crockpot' combines two older terms: 'crock', a Middle English word (from Old English 'poc'/'croc') meaning an earthenware jar or pot, and 'pot', one of the oldest words for a cooking vessel. The modern compound arose as the trademarked name of the Crock-Pot slow cooker introduced by Rival Manufacturing around 1971, drawing on the ceramic insert that resembled a traditional crock. Its success led to genericide — the process by which a brand name becomes a common noun — so today the term applies to slow cookers generally, alongside the older cognate forms 'crock' and 'crockery'.
How crockpot is actually used
Register: informal to everyday domestic language; the word is rarely used in formal culinary writing. It is chiefly North American — British usage favors 'slow cooker'. Because the word derives from a trademark (Rival's Crock-Pot), some style contexts treat the capitalized form as the proprietary name and the lowercase form as the generic term.
Easily confused with crockpot
A hotpot is a traditional stew cooked and served in a pot at the table, whereas a crockpot is the electric appliance itself that cooks food slowly unattended.