What does teaspoon mean?
A teaspoon is a small spoon associated with tea and, more commonly today, with measuring ingredients in the kitchen. Its original meaning was a spoon used for stirring or drinking tea, but the word gradually came to denote a small standard measuring spoon as well. Recipe writers use it for small quantities of spices, sugar, baking powder, oil, and similar ingredients, often abbreviating it as “tsp.” The term can refer either to the utensil or to the quantity it holds, as in “a teaspoon of salt.” In metric-based usage, including British recipes, a teaspoon is conventionally 5 millilitres. In the US customary system, it is approximately 4.93 millilitres and is often treated as 5 millilitres for practical cooking purposes. The familiar word therefore carries both a literal connection with tea and a useful measuring role that remains part of everyday kitchen language.
nounA teaspoon is a small spoon used for stirring tea or taking tea, and by extension a small spoon used as a standard measure in cooking and serving. In recipes, it denotes a small measure, conventionally one third of a tablespoon in the US customary system and 5 millilitres in the metric system.
- A small spoon used to stir tea, consume tea, or serve a condiment.
- A small spoon used to measure ingredients in cooking and serving.
- A quantity equal to the capacity of a standard teaspoon.
"She added a teaspoon of honey to the warm tea."
"The recipe calls for one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda."
"He stirred his cup of tea with a silver teaspoon."
Used when referring to multiple teaspoons or several small measures.
"Add two teaspoons of vanilla extract."
A teaspoon began as a spoon for tea before it became one of the kitchen's most trusted measuring tools.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does teaspoon come from?
Teaspoon is an English compound formed from tea and spoon, originally referring to a spoon used with tea. Its original culinary sense developed into the modern sense of a small spoon used to measure ingredients. Related compounds such as teapot and teacup preserve the tea element, while spoonful continues the older word spoon.
Related word forms
How teaspoon is actually used
The word is countable and commonly abbreviated as tsp. in recipes. In British and other metric-using contexts, a teaspoon conventionally means 5 millilitres; in the US customary system, the unit is about 4.93 millilitres and is commonly treated as 5 millilitres in recipes.
Easily confused with teaspoon
A tablespoon is a larger measure: in the US customary system it equals three teaspoons, while the metric equivalents are 15 millilitres and 5 millilitres respectively.
The abbreviation tbsp. means tablespoon, whereas tsp. means teaspoon; the abbreviations are distinguished by the final letters p and b.