pestle

English

A mortar and pestle with black peppercorns.

Etymology

From Middle English pestel, pestell, from Old French pestel, from Latin pistillum, from pīnsō (“pound, beat”). Doublet of pistil and pistillum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛsəl/
• Rhymes: -ɛsəl

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Noun

pestle (plural pestles)

1. A club-shaped, round-headed stick used in a mortar to pound, crush, rub or grind things.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Laboratory”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 327:

     She then sat down by the fire, and carefully separated the stone from the pulp, which she burnt; and her next task was to extract the kernel, which she did by means of a heavy pestle and the hearth. The kernels were next crushed together, and placed to simmer over the furnace.

2. (archaic) A constable's or bailiff's staff; so called from its shape.
   • 1611, George Chapman, May-Day:

     […] whether the chopping-knife or their pestles were the better weapons

3. The leg and leg bone of an animal, especially of a pig.

   a pestle of pork

Coordinate terms

• muddler

Derived terms

• knight of the pestle
• mortar and pestle
• pestle and mortar

 

Translations

instrument used with a mortar to grind things

• Acehnese: alèe
• Afar: please add this translation if you can
• Aiton: please add this translation if you can
• Akan: please add this translation if you can
• Akkadian: 𒄑𒃶𒈾 m (/⁠bukānu⁠/), 𒈠𒁖𒆪 m (/⁠madakku⁠/)
• Aklanon: hae-o
• Amharic: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: مِدَقَّة f (midaqqa), يَد (ar) m (yad), دَسْتَج m (dastaj)
• Aramaic:

  Babylonian: אוּרְדּ֧כָא (ʾurdəḵā), absolute state אוּרְדָּךְ (ʾurdāḵ)

  Classical Syriac: ܡܪܫܐ m (marrəšā), ܕܳܩܘܿܩܳܐ m (dāqōqā), ܒܘܽܟܳܢܳܐ m (būḵānā)

  Palestinian: בוכנה m (būḵānā)

• Armenian: սանդաթակ (hy) (sandatʻak), սանդաթակի (hy) (sandatʻaki), սանդիտոռ (hy) (sanditoṙ), սանդակոթ (hy) (sandakotʻ)

  Old Armenian: տոռն (toṙn)

• Assamese: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: həvəng dəstəsi
• Belarusian: пе́сцік m (pjéscik)
• Bengali: please add this translation if you can
• Bikol Central: halo (bcl)
• Bulgarian: токма́к (bg) m (tokmák), пе́стик m (péstik), чука́ло (bg) n (čukálo), тлъчо́к m (tlǎčók), тлъ́чник m (tlǎ́čnik), бия́ло n (bijálo)
• Burmese: ကျည်ပွေ့ (my) (kyanypwe.)
• Catalan: mà de morter f, maça (ca) f
• Cebuano: alho
• Chakma: please add this translation if you can

  Eastern Cham: please add this translation if you can

  Western Cham: please add this translation if you can

• Cham:
• Chinese:

  Hokkien: 研槌 (géng-thûi)

  Mandarin: 碓 (zh) (duì)

• Classical Nahuatl: texōlōtl
• Czech: please add this translation if you can
• Danish: pistil c, støder c
• Dhivehi: please add this translation if you can
• Dongolawi: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: stamper (nl)
• Estonian: uhmrinui
• Faroese: stoytil
• Finnish: petkel (fi), survin
• French: pilon (fr) m
• Friulian: pestadôr m, pestel m
• Fula: undugal
• Galician: mazarelo m
• German: Stößel (de) m, Mörserkeule (de) f, Stampfer (de) m
• Greek: γουδοχέρι (el) n (goudochéri)

  Ancient: ὕπερος m (húperos), δοῖδυξ m (doîdux), ναγεύς m (nageús)

• Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
• Hawaiian: kuʻi
• Hebrew: מָדוֹךְ (he) m (madokh), עֱלִי m (eli)
• Higaonon: hal-u
• Hiligaynon: hal-u
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: mozsártörő (hu)
• Ibanag: alu
• Icelandic: stautur m
• Igala: please add this translation if you can
• Igbo: please add this translation if you can
• Ilocano: alo
• Indonesian: alu (id), antan (id)
• Ingrian: petel
• Iranun: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: tuairgnín m
• Isnag: allo
• Italian: pestello (it) m
• Japanese: 擂粉木 (ja) (すりこぎ, surikogi)
• Javanese: alu
• Kazakh: келсап (kelsap)
• Khamti: please add this translation if you can
• Khiamniungan Naga: mâi
• Khmer: អង្រែ (km) (ʼɑngrɛɛ)
• Korean: 방앗공이 (bang'atgong'i), 절굿공이 (jeolgutgong'i), 막자 (makja) (small-sized)
• Koyraboro Senni: please add this translation if you can
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: دەسکەوان (deskewan), دەسکاوِنگ (deskawing), دەساوان (desawan)

• Lango (Uganda): alek
• Lao: ສາກ (sāk)
• Latin: pistillum n
• Lombard: pestón m
• Lü: ᦉᦱᧅ (ṡaak)
• Lugbara: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: please add this translation if you can
• Maasai: please add this translation if you can
• Macanese: pilám
• Macedonian: толчник m (tolčnik)
• Magahi: please add this translation if you can
• Maguindanao: endu
• Maithili: please add this translation if you can
• Makasar: alu
• Malay: perosak, alu (ms), pengentak
• Malayalam: please add this translation if you can
• Mansaka: aro
• Maori: tuki, paoi, ngahiri, morenga, pōtuki, kuru
• Maranao: ndo
• Marathi: बत्ता (battā)
• Mon: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian: нүдүүр (mn) (nüdüür)
• Ngambay: please add this translation if you can
• Northern Thai: ᩈᩣ᩠ᨠ
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pistill, støter

  Nynorsk: pistill, støytar

• Old Javanese: antan
• Omaha-Ponca: wéhe
• Oromo: bokotumaa
• Ottoman Turkish: طوقماق (tokmak)
• Phake: ꩬက် (sak)
• Piedmontese: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: tłuczek (pl) m
• Portuguese: pilão (pt) m
• Rohingya: please add this translation if you can
• Romagnol: pilôn m
• Romanian: pistil (ro) n
• Russian: пест (ru) m (pest), пе́стик (ru) m (péstik), толка́ч (ru) m (tolkáč)
• Saho: maataka
• Scots: champer
• Scottish Gaelic: plocan m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ту́чак

  Roman: túčak (sh)

• Shan: သၢၵ်ႇ (shn) (sàak)
• Sherpa: please add this translation if you can
• Sikkimese: please add this translation if you can
• Somali: please add this translation if you can
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: pěsta f, tłucnik m

• Spanish: mano (es), maneta, maja (es), macilla, palo (es), machacadera f, machaca (es) f, pistadero m, tejolote (es) m (Mexico)
• Sundanese: halu (su)
• Swahili: mchi
• Swedish: mortelstöt (sv) c, pistill (sv) c
• Sylheti: please add this translation if you can
• Tagalog: pambayo, halo, pandikdik, panligis
• Tai Dam: ꪎꪱꪀ (sák)
• Tai Nüa: please add this translation if you can
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Tarifit: idiydi m, azduz m
• Tausug: halu
• Telugu: please add this translation if you can
• Tetum: alu
• Thai: สาก (th) (sàak)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Tigre: መግድኢ (mägdəʾi)
• Turkish: tokmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: пе́стик m (péstyk)
• Vietnamese: chày (vi)
• Welsh: pestl m
• Western Bukidnon Manobo: andu
• Wolof: please add this translation if you can
• Yakan: hellu
• Yiddish: אייבערשטע פֿון שטייסל n (eybershte fun shteysl) (literally 'top of mortar')
• Yoruba: ọmọdó
• Zarma: please add this translation if you can

Verb

pestle (third-person singular simple present pestles, present participle pestling, simple past and past participle pestled)

1. (transitive) To pound, crush, rub or grind, as in a mortar with a pestle.
   • 2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 47:

     ‘Next time, boy, that you use that mortar for garlic, I will personally knock out your brain, place it in the said mortar, pestle it to a fine paste and give it to Dick Purser for feeding the dogs.’

Translations

to pound, crush, rub or grind, as in a mortar with a pestle — see pound,‎ crush,‎ rub,‎ grind

Related terms

• pesto
• pistil

Anagrams

• steple