egg spoon

See also: eggspoon

English

WOTD – 14 August 2021

Alternative forms

• egg-spoon, eggspoon

Etymology

A pair of c. 1860 silver egg spoons from England, with a teaspoon (bottom) as a size comparison.

From egg +‎ spoon. Known to be attested since at latest 1759.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɛɡ ˌspuːn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɛɡ ˈspun/
• Rhymes: -uːn

Noun

egg spoon (plural egg spoons)

1. A spoon, usually smaller than a teaspoon, which is used for eating a boiled egg from a hole made in the shell; the bowl of the spoon is shaped to make it easier to scoop out the contents of the eggshell.
   • 2017, Ursula K[roeber] Le Guin, “Without Egg”, in No Time to Spare: Thinking about What Matters, New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, part 4 (Rewards), page 176:

     [T]he egg spoon must also be untarnishable—stainless steel, or horn. I've never seen a gold egg spoon, but I'm sure it would do. Whatever the material, the spoon has to have a small bowl with a fine edge on it: a thick edge can't coax all the egg white off the inside of the shell. The handle is short, for good balance and easy handling. An egg spoon is a tiny implement that, like the Viennese breakfast, cannot be improved.

Hypernyms

• spoon

Derived terms

• eggspoonful

Translations

spoon used for eating a boiled egg from a hole made in the shell

• French: cuillère à œuf (fr) f
• German: Eierlöffel (de) m
• Japanese: エッグスプーン

Further reading

• egg spoon on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “egg-spoon, n.” under “spoon, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021.