What does trivet mean?
A trivet is a practical kitchen object that provides a heat-resistant surface for hot cookware. Its modern form is often a perforated metal plate, allowing heat to pass through while keeping a pot or pan from directly touching a table, counter, or another sensitive surface. Traditional trivets could also be three-legged metal stands used over or near a fire, and this older sense explains the word’s name. The term appears in ordinary household instructions, cookware descriptions, and descriptions of fireplaces and hearths. Although it sounds unusual, a trivet is a useful and well-established word: it identifies a small but important piece of equipment that helps make handling hot cookware safer and protects surrounding surfaces. In British and American English, it is usually a noun, and plural forms such as “trivets” are normal when several are mentioned.
nounA perforated or heat-resistant plate used to support hot cookware and protect a table or work surface. In older and more literal usage, a trivet is a three-legged stand for holding a heated vessel.
- A perforated or heat-resistant plate used to support hot pots, pans, and other cookware.
- A three-legged stand, especially a metal one, for supporting a heated vessel.
"She set the hot frying pan on a metal trivet beside the stove."
"Place the kettle on the trivet so it cannot damage the countertop."
"An iron trivet stood over the fire, supporting the heavy cooking pot."
The plural is used when referring to more than one trivet.
"The cookware is arranged on trivets across the serving table."
The word once advertised its shape: a trivet was originally a three-footed support for hot cookware.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does trivet come from?
The word comes through Middle English from Anglo-French and Medieval Latin forms ultimately associated with Latin “tripus,” meaning a tripod or three-footed support. The underlying image is Greek “tri-,” meaning three, combined with “pous,” meaning foot, which also underlies the English word “tripod.” In early usage, a trivet was commonly a three-legged stand for a cooking vessel; the familiar perforated plate developed as a later and now dominant sense.
How trivet is actually used
The word is used in both British and American English. In contemporary household use it usually refers to a flat heat-resistant plate or mat; the three-legged support sense is more literary, historical, or technical. It is countable and commonly used with cookware.