A spoon is a tool with a small, shallow bowl at the end of a handle, used for eating, stirring, or serving food. It is especially used for liquids and soft foods like soup or yogurt.
From Old English “spōn” meaning “chip, splinter, wooden spoon,” related to German “Span” meaning “wood shaving.” Early spoons were often carved from thin pieces of wood.
The word for spoon originally just meant a sliver of wood, which makes sense when you imagine someone carving a bowl shape into a wooden chip. Modern slang like “spooning” (cuddling close together) comes from the way two spoons nest together.
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