A round cooking pot with a flat bottom, straight sides, a handle, and usually a lid, used for heating and cooking food on a stove.
From 'sauce' plus 'pan'. The term became common in the 1600s as metal cookware became standard in European kitchens, replacing ceramic vessels.
The design of a saucepan—with its specific height-to-width ratio—is actually optimized for heat transfer and preventing food from sticking, which is why this basic shape has barely changed in 400 years.
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