Plural of cutlery; multiple sets of eating utensils or multiple shops that sell cutlery.
From Middle English and Old French 'coutelier,' derived from 'coutel' (knife). The '-ery' suffix means 'a place where something is made or sold' or 'a collection of something,' so 'cutlery' means both utensils and cutlery shops.
In the Victorian era, matching cutlery sets became so important to wealthy families that they'd commission custom silverware that took months to create—having the wrong fork could actually be considered insulting to your host!
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