Fat

Pronunciation

• enPR: făt, IPA: /fæt/
• Rhymes: -æt
• Homophones: phat

From Middle English, from Old English fæt ("vat, vessel, jar, cup, casket, division"), from Proto-Germanic *fatą ("vessel"), from Proto-Indo-European *pod- ("vessel"). Cognate with Dutch vat ("barrel, vessel"), German Fass ("barrel, drum"), Swedish fat ("barrel, dish, cask"). See vat.

Full definition of fat

Noun

1. (obsolete) A large tub or vessel for water, wine, or other liquids; a cistern.
• Bible, Joel ii. 24The fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
• 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 429:In 1431 New College purchases brewing vessels, under the names of a mash fat, for 6s. 10d., a wort fat for 2s., a 'Gilleding' tub for 2s. 6d., and two tunning barrels at 8d. each, a leaden boiler for 24s., another for 12s., and a great copper beer pot for 13s. 4d.
2. (obsolete) A dry measure, generally equal to nine bushels.

Synonyms

• vat

From Middle English, from Old English fǣtt ("fatted, fat"), from Proto-Germanic *faitidaz ("fatted"), originally the past participle of the verb *faitijaną ("to make fat"), from *faitaz ("fat"), from Proto-Indo-European *poid- ("to abound in water, milk, or fat"), from Proto-Indo-European *poi- ("sap, juice"). Cognate with German feist ("fatted, plump, obese"). Related also to Dutch vet ("fat"), German fett ("fat, corpulent"), Swedish fet ("fat, oily, fatty"), Icelandic feitur ("fat").

Adjective

1. Carrying more fat than usual on one's body; plump; not lean or thin.The fat man had trouble getting through the door.The fattest pig should yield the most meat.
2. Thick.The fat wallets of the men from the city brought joy to the peddlers.
3. Bountiful.
4. Oily; greasy; unctuous; rich; said of food.
5. (obsolete) Exhibiting the qualities of a fat animal; coarse; heavy; gross; dull; stupid.
• Emersonmaking our western wits fat and mean
• Bible, Is. vi. 10Make the heart of this people fat.
6. Fertile; productive.a fat soil; a fat pasture
7. Rich; producing a large income; desirable.a fat benefice; a fat office; a fat job
• Carlylenow parson of Troston, a fat living in Suffolk
8. Abounding in riches; affluent; fortunate.
• Jonathan Swiftpersons grown fat and wealthy by long impostures
9. (dated, printing) Of a character which enables the compositor to make large wages; said of matter containing blank, cuts, or many leads, etc.a fat take; a fat page
10. Alternative form of phat

Synonyms

• (carrying a larger than normal amount of fat) chubby, chunky, corpulent, lardy slang, obese, overweight, plump, porky slang, rotund, tubby, well-fed; see also
• (thick) thick
• (bountiful) bountiful, prosperous

Antonyms

• Of sense (carrying a larger than normal amount of fat) lean, skinny, slender, slim, thin

Derived terms

Noun

1. (uncountable) A specialized animal tissue with a high oil content, used for long-term storage of energy.
2. (countable) A refined substance chemically resembling the oils in animal fat.
3. That part of an organization deemed wasteful.We need to trim the fat in this company
4. (slang) An erection."I saw Daniel crack a fat."
5. (golf) A poorly played shot where the ball is struck by the top part of the club head. (see also thin, shank, toe)
6. The best or richest productions; the best part.to live on the fat of the land
7. (dated, printing) Work containing much blank, or its equivalent, and therefore profitable to the compositor.

Synonyms

• (animal tissue) adipose tissue, lard (in animals; derogatory slang when used of human fat)
• (substance chemically resembling the oils in animal fat) grease, lard

Derived terms

• fatberg
• fat camp
• fat chance
• fatten

Verb

1. (transitive, archaic) To make fat; to fatten.kill the fatted calf
2. (intransitive, archaic) To become fat; to fatten.

Anagrams

• aft , AFT; ATF, FTA, TAF, TFA