cooker
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
In British English, cooker is the everyday word for the kitchen appliance that combines an oven with burners on top. Stove is the standard American English equivalent and is also heard in Britain, though less commonly for the whole unit — a British speaker might say 'stove' when referring specifically to the burners (hob). Oven refers only to the enclosed baking compartment, not the full appliance; you bake a cake in the oven but boil water on the cooker. Range is another American English term that covers the same combined appliance as cooker, but it is more common in commercial kitchens or formal product descriptions. For example, a British person might say 'I left the soup simmering on the cooker,' while an American would likely say 'I left the soup simmering on the stove.'
Etymology
Cooker comes from the verb 'cook' (from Latin 'coquere', meaning 'to cook') combined with the suffix '-er', which forms nouns indicating a thing that performs an action. The word first appeared in English during the 14th century, initially referring to a person who cooks. By the 18th century, 'cooker' had taken on the meaning of a utensil or vessel used for cooking, and by the 19th century it referred to the full cooking appliance we know today. The sense of a cooking apple — an apple variety intended for cooking rather than eating raw — emerged in the 19th century as well.