View source for Teaspoon

{{Short description|Kind of spoon}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
[[File:Loeffel 03.JPG|thumb|left-to-right: {{unbulleted list
|[[Serving spoon]] 
|[[Tablespoon]] (tbsp.)
|[[Dessert spoon]] (dsp.)
|Teaspoon (tsp.)}}]]

A '''teaspoon''' ('''tsp.''') is a small [[spoon]] that can be used to stir a cup of [[tea]] or [[coffee]], or as a tool for [[Cooking measures|measuring]] [[volume]].<ref name="mosbys">{{cite book |editor=Marie O'Toole |title=Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 9th edition |date=6 June 2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aW0zkZl0JgQC&pg=PA1746|page=1746 |publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences |isbn=978-0323112581 }}</ref><ref name="sinclair">{{cite book|author=Charles Sinclair|title=Dictionary of Food: International Food and Cooking Terms from A to Z|date=January 2009|publisher=A&C Black |isbn=9781408102183|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mdwm7jI9J10C&pg=PT37}}</ref> The size of teaspoons ranges from about {{cvt|2.5|to|7.3|mL|lk=out}}. For dosing of medicine and, in places where metric units are used, for cooking purposes, a teaspoonful is defined as {{cvt|5|mL}}, and standard [[measuring spoon]]s are used.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-child/spoons-give-wrong-medicine-doses/|title=Spoons give wrong medicine doses|website=NHS UK|date=15 July 2010|access-date=21 February 2020|archive-date=11 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111220418/https://www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-child/spoons-give-wrong-medicine-doses/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Cutlery==
[[File:Kaffeesahne Keks und Tasse Kaffee Mai 2012.JPG|thumb|A cup of coffee with coffee spoon]]
A teaspoon is a small [[spoon]] suitable for stirring and sipping the contents of a cup of [[tea]] or [[coffee]], or adding a portion of loose sugar to it. These spoons have heads more or less oval in shape. Teaspoons are a common part of a [[place setting]].

Teaspoons with longer handles, such as [[iced tea spoon]]s, are commonly used also for [[ice cream]] desserts or [[Ice cream soda|floats]]. Similar spoons include the [[tablespoon]] and the [[dessert spoon]], the latter intermediate in size between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, used in eating dessert and sometimes soup or cereals. Much less common is the coffee spoon, which is a smaller version of the teaspoon, intended for use with the small type of coffee cup.{{efn |T. S. Eliot's poem ''The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'' mentions coffee spoons: "For I have known them all already, known them all: / Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, / I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;"}}

Another teaspoon, called an ''orange spoon'' (in American English: grapefruit spoon), tapers to a sharp point or teeth, and is used to separate [[Citrus|citrus fruits]] from their membranes. A [[bar spoon]], equivalent to a teaspoon, is used in measuring ingredients for [[mixed drink]]s.

A container designed to hold extra teaspoons, called a [[spoon tray|''spooner'']], usually in a set with a covered sugar container, formed a part of Victorian table service.

== History ==
[[File:Frenchman offered a 13th cup of tea.jpg|thumb|An 1825 cartoon makes fun of a Frenchman unfamiliar with the British etiquette. The guest did not place his spoon into the cup and is thus being offered his thirteenth cup of tea.{{sfn|Pettigrew|2001|p=84}}]]
The teaspoon is a European invention.{{sfn|Ukers|1935|p=448}} Small spoons were common in Europe since at least the 13th century. These special spoons were introduced almost simultaneously with tea and coffee in the mid-17th century.{{sfn|Ukers|1935|p=448}}{{sfn|Pettigrew|2001|p=37}} Originally teaspoons were exotic items, precious and small, resembling the [[demitasse spoon]]s of the later times.{{sfn|Ukers|1935|p=448}} 

Also used for coffee, these spoons were usually made of [[gilt silver]], and were available with a variety of handle shapes: plain, twisted, decorated with knobs,{{sfn|Pettigrew|2001|p=37}} also known as ''knops'', hence the ''knop-top'' name for such spoons.{{sfn|Veitgh|1923|p=121}} Widespread use and modern size date back to the [[Georgian era]].{{sfn|Ukers|1935|p=448}} 
The teaspoon is first mentioned in an advertisement in a 1686 edition of the ''London Gazette''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oed.com/start;jsessionid=9A84522118C28436574C5BAB966B86C5?authRejection=true&url=%2Fview%2FEntry%2F198423%3FredirectedFrom%3Dteaspoon|title=Home : Oxford English Dictionary|website=oed.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/2203/pages/2|title=London Gazette Issue 2203 27 December 1686 page 2 'three small gilded Tea Spoons'}}</ref> Teaspoons, probably of English origin, are present on the 1700 Dutch painting by [[Nicholas Verkolje]], "A Tea Party".{{sfn|Pettigrew|2001|p=25}}

A special dish for resting the teaspoons, a "[[spoon boat]]", was a part of the [[tea set]] in the 18th century.{{sfn|Pettigrew|2001|p=81}} At that time, the spoons were playing important role in the tea drinking etiquette: a spoon laid "across" the teacup indicated that the guest did not need any more tea, otherwise, the hostess was obligated to offer a fresh cup of tea, and it was considered impolite to refuse the offering.{{sfn|Pettigrew|2001|p=85}}{{sfn|Roth|1961|p=72}} Sometimes the spoons were numbered to make it easier to match the cups with the guests after a refill.{{sfn|Pettigrew|2001|p=85}}

== Unit of measure {{anchor |unit}}==
{{Infobox unit
| bgcolor      =
| name         = teaspoon
| image        = 4MeasuringSpoons.jpg
| caption      = Measuring spoons, with the second largest one representing the volume of a teaspoon.
| standard     = [[Imperial units]], [[US customary units]]
| quantity     = Volume
| symbol       = tsp
| symbol2      =
| namedafter   =
| extralabel   =
| extradata    =
| units_imp1   = SI units
| inunits_imp1 = 3.552 mL
| units_imp2   = US customary units
| inunits_imp2 = 0.721 US tsp
| units_us1    = SI units
| inunits_us1  = 4.929 mL
| units_us2    = Imperial units
| inunits_us2  = 1.388 imp tsp
}}
In some countries, a teaspoon (occasionally '''teaspoonful''') is a [[Cooking measures|cooking measure]] of [[volume]], especially widely used in cooking recipes and pharmaceutic medical prescriptions. In English it is abbreviated as ''tsp.'' or, less often, as ''t.'', ''ts.'', or ''tspn.''. The abbreviation is never capitalized because a capital letter is customarily reserved for the larger [[tablespoon]] ("Tbsp.", "T.", "Tbls.", or "Tb.").{{efn |In German and Dutch, teaspoon is abbreviated ''TL'', for {{lang |de |Teelöffel}} and {{lang |nl |Theelepel}} respectively.}}

A small scale study in Greece found that household teaspoons are a poor approximation of the standard tsp measure. The study investigated the accuracy of teaspoons as a measuring tool for liquid medicine. They surveyed 71 teaspoons from 25 houses and found that the volume varied between {{cvt|2.5|and|7.3|mL}}.{{sfn|Falagas|Vouloumanou|Plessa|Peppas|2010|p=1185}}

===Metric teaspoon===
The metric teaspoon as a unit of culinary measure is 5&nbsp;mL,<ref name="us">21 [[Code of Federal Regulations|CFR (Code of Federal Regulations)]] [http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/aprqtr/21cfr101.9.htm 101.9(b)(5)(viii)]</ref> equal to {{Val|5|ul=cm3}}, {{frac|1|3}} international metric tablespoon, or {{frac|1|4}} Australian metric tablespoon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.airo2012.it/convert-cup-tablespoon/|title=How to Convert Cup to Tablespoon?|date=8 June 2016|website=Airo|access-date=16 June 2016|archive-date=17 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617202706/http://www.airo2012.it/convert-cup-tablespoon/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{|
|-
|1 metric teaspoon&nbsp;
||=
|align=right|5||mL
|-
|||=
|align=right|{{sfrac|1|3}}||[[Tablespoon#International metric|international metric tablespoon]]
|-
|||=
|align=right|{{sfrac|1|4}}||[[Tablespoon#Australian metric|Australian metric tablespoon]]
|-
|||=
|align=right|{{sfrac|1|2}}||[[Dessert spoon#Culinary measure|metric dessert spoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|1.41||[[Dram (unit)#Unit of volume|British imperial fluid drachms]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.18||[[Fluid ounce|British imperial fluid ounce]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.35||[[Tablespoon#United Kingdom|UK tablespoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.7||[[Dessert spoon#Culinary measure|UK dessert spoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|1.41||[[Teaspoon#British culinary measurement unit|UK teaspoons]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|2.81||[[Salt spoon|UK salt spoons]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|5.63||[[Pinch (unit)|UK pinches]] (solids only)
|-
|||≈
|align=right|84.47||[[Drop (unit)|UK drops]] (liquids only)
|-
|||≈
|align=right|1.35||[[Dram (unit)#Unit of volume|US customary fluid drams]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.17||[[Fluid ounce|US customary fluid ounce]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.34||[[Tablespoon#United States|US customary tablespoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.51||[[Dessert spoon#Culinary measure|US customary dessert spoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|1.01||[[Teaspoon#United States customary unit|US customary teaspoons]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|2.03||US customary coffee spoons
|-
|||≈
|align=right|4.06||[[Salt spoon|US customary salt spoons]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|8.11||[[Cooking weights and measures#United States measures|US customary dashes]] (solids only)
|-
|||≈
|align=right|16.23||[[Pinch (unit)|US customary pinches]] (solids only)
|-
|||≈
|align=right|32.46||[[Cooking weights and measures#United States measures|US customary smidgens]] (solids only)
|-
|||≈
|align=right|97.38||[[Drop (unit)|US customary drops]] (liquids only)
|}

===United States customary unit===
{{hatnote|See [[United States customary units]] for relative volumes of these and other measures.}}
As a unit of culinary measure, one teaspoon in the United States is {{frac|1|3}} [[tablespoon]], exactly {{val|4.92892159375}}&nbsp;[[Litre#SI prefixes applied to the litre|millilitres]] (mL), 1{{frac|1|3}} [[Dram (unit)#Unit of volume|US customary fluid drams]], {{frac|1|6}} [[Fluid ounce|US customary fl. oz]], {{frac|1|48}} [[Cup (volume)|US cup]], {{frac|1|768}} US liquid [[gallon]], or {{frac|77|256}}&nbsp;(0.30078125)&nbsp;[[cubic inch]]es.

{|
|-
|1 US customary teaspoon&nbsp;
||=
|align=right|1{{sfrac|1|3}}||US customary fluid drams
|-
|||=
|align=right|{{sfrac|1|6}}||US customary fluid ounce
|-
|||=
|align=right|{{sfrac|1|3}}||[[Tablespoon#United States|US customary tablespoon]]
|-
|||=
|align=right|{{sfrac|1|2}}||[[Dessert spoon#Culinary measure|US customary dessert spoon]]
|-
|||=
|align=right|2||US customary coffee spoons
|-
|||=
|align=right|4||[[Salt spoon|US customary salt spoons]]
|-
|||=
|align=right|8||[[Cooking_weights_and_measures#United_States_measures|US customary dashes]] (solids only)
|-
|||=
|align=right|16||[[Pinch (unit)|US customary pinches]] (solids only)
|-
|||=
|align=right|32||[[Cooking weights and measures#United States measures|US customary smidgens]] (solids only)
|-
|||=
|align=right|96||[[Drop (unit)|US customary drops]] (liquids only)
|-
|||≈
|align=right|1.39||[[Dram (unit)#Unit of volume|British imperial fluid drachms]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.17||[[Fluid ounce|British imperial fluid ounce]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.35||[[Tablespoon#United Kingdom|UK tablespoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.69||[[Dessert spoon#Culinary measure|UK dessert spoons]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|1.39||[[Teaspoon#British culinary measurement unit|UK teaspoons]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|2.78||[[Salt spoon|UK salt spoons]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|5.55||[[Pinch (unit)|UK pinches]] (solid only)
|-
|||≈
|align=right|83.27||[[Drop (unit)|UK drops]] (liquids only)
|-
|||=
|align=right|4.92892159375||[[Litre#SI prefixes applied to the litre|millilitres]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.33||[[Tablespoon#International metric|international metric tablespoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.25||[[Tablespoon#Australian metric|Australian metric tablespoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.49||[[Dessert spoon#Culinary measure|metric dessert spoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.99||[[Teaspoon#Metric teaspoon|metric teaspoon]]
|}

For nutritional labeling and medicine in the US, the teaspoon is defined the same as a metric teaspoon{{mdash}}precisely 5&nbsp;millilitres (mL).<ref>21CFR101.9(b)(5)(viii) [http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/aprqtr/21cfr101.9.htm 2 1CFR101.9]</ref>

===British culinary measurement unit===
Traditionally, in the United Kingdom, 1 teaspoon is 1 [[Dram (unit)#Unit of volume|British imperial fluid drachm]]<ref>[https://www.victorianschool.co.uk/ebooks/enquire%20within/10766-h/10766-h.htm#p665 Paragraph 665], page 119, ''Enquire Within Upon Everything'' (1894)</ref> ({{frac|1|8}} [[Fluid ounce|British imperial fluid ounce]]).  1 UK teaspoon is the equivalence of {{frac|1|4}} [[Tablespoon#United Kingdom|UK tablespoon]], {{frac|1|2}} [[Dessert spoon#Culinary measure|UK dessert spoon]], or 2 [[Salt spoon|UK salt spoons]].

{|
|-
|1 UK teaspoon&nbsp;
||=
|align=right|1||British imperial fluid drachm
|-
|||=
|align=right|{{frac|1|4}}||UK tablespoon
|-
|||=
|align=right|{{frac|1|2}}||UK dessert spoon
|-
|||=
|align=right|2||UK salt spoons
|-
|||=
|align=right|4||[[Pinch (unit)|UK pinches]] (solids only)
|-
|||=
|align=right|60||[[Drop (unit)|UK drops]] (liquids only)
|-
|||=
|align=right|{{frac|1|8}}||British imperial fluid ounce
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.96||[[Dram (unit)#Unit of volume|US customary fluid dram]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.12||[[Fluid ounce|US customary fluid ounce]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.24||[[Tablespoon#United States|US customary tablespoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.36||[[Dessert spoon#Culinary measure|US customary dessert spoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.72||US customary teaspoon
|-
|||≈
|align=right|1.44||US customary coffee spoons
|-
|||≈
|align=right|2.88||[[Salt spoon|US customary salt spoons]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|5.76||[[Cooking weights and measures#United States measures|US customary dashes]] (solids only)
|-
|||≈
|align=right|11.53||[[Pinch (unit)|US customary pinches]] (solids only)
|-
|||≈
|align=right|23.06||[[Cooking weights and measures#United States measures|US customary smidgens]] (solids only)
|-
|||≈
|align=right|69.17||[[Drop (unit)|US customary drops]] (liquids only)
|-
|||≈
|align=right|3.55||[[Litre#SI prefixes applied to the litre|millilitres]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.24||[[Tablespoon#International metric|international metric tablespoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.18||[[Tablespoon#Australian metric|Australian metric tablespoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.36||[[Dessert spoon#Culinary measure|metric dessert spoon]]
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.71||[[Teaspoon#Metric teaspoon|metric teaspoon]]
|}

===Dry ingredients===
For dry granular or powdered ingredients (e.g., [[salt]], [[flour]], [[spices]], and especially beverages involving [[tea]] and [[sugar]]),<ref>{{cite book |last=Souter |first=Keith |author-link= |date=2013 |title=The Tea Cyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yluCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT92 |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |page= 92|isbn=9781628735482}}</ref> a recipe may call for  the spoon to be filled in a certain way that changes the volume of the ingredient. As with much of cooking, these measures are by their nature inexact. This can be exacerbated here by failing to use a real teaspoon: a teaspoon's greater area supports considerably more to be heaped above it than a deeper hemispherical measuring spoon, so if using a measuring spoon, one will typically use less than called for by the recipe.{{sfn|Grigson|2007|p=xviii}} 

The definitions of "spoonful" vary. In American recipes, a "spoon" without clarification stands for a "level" spoon, with no ingredient showing above the rim of the spoon bowl. A British cookbook would mean a "round" or "heaped" spoon, with the ingredient peaking above the rim:{{sfn|Grigson|2007|p=xviii}} 
* A ''scant'' teaspoon is one which has been filled to slightly less than level.{{sfn|Baggett|2012}}
* A ''level'' teaspoon, which is the default ''teaspoon'' if no adjective is given, refers to an approximately leveled filling of the spoon, producing the same volume as for liquids. The excess of ingredient can be scraped off by a knife.{{sfn|BBC|1945}}
* A ''rounded'' teaspoon is roughly symmetrical with as much ingredient above the rim as is in the spoon below the rim, giving a measure roughly equivalent to two level teaspoons.{{sfn|BBC|1945}}
* A ''heaping'' (North American English) or ''heaped'' (UK English) teaspoon is a larger inexact measure consisting of the amount obtained by scooping the dry ingredient up as high as possible to balance on a spoon. This quantity can vary considerably, up to 5 amounts of ingredient in the level spoon.{{sfn|BBC|1945}} Many cookbooks treat heaped and rounded spoons interchangeably.{{sfn|Collister|2012}}{{sfn|Henderson|Gellatly|2008}}
Lincoln used the spoon measure without adjectives to define either a rounded one (for flour and sugar) or a level one (for salt and spices).{{sfn|Lincoln|1903|p=24}}

=== Apothecary ===
{{See also|Apothecaries' system}}
As an unofficial but once widely used unit of [[Apothecaries' system|apothecaries' measure]], the teaspoon is equal to 1&nbsp;fluid dram (or drachm) and thus {{frac|4}} of a tablespoon or {{frac|8}} of a fluid ounce.<ref name="Ludy1907">{{cite book|author=Robert Borneman Ludy|title=Answers to questions prescribed by pharmaceutical state boards|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xMwRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA125|year=1907|publisher=J.J. McVey|page=125}}</ref><ref name="Collins1803">{{cite book|author=Dr. Collins|title=Practical rules for the management and medical treatment of Negro slaves in the sugar colonies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=clsSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA465|year=1803|publisher=Printed by J. Barfield, for Vernor and Hood|page=465}}</ref> The apothecaries' teaspoon was formally known by the Latin ''cochleare minus'' (''cochl. min.'') to distinguish it from the tablespoon or ''cochleare majus'' (''cochl. maj.'').<ref name="encyclopedia1884">{{cite book|editor=Alexander Whitelaw|editor-link=Alexander Whitelaw (editor)|title=The popular encyclopedia; or, 'Conversations Lexicon'|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=68LpFwitupEC&pg=PA11|year=1884|page=11}}</ref><ref name="Milne-EdwardsVavasseur1831">{{cite book|author1=Henri Milne-Edwards|author2=Pierre Henri L.D. Vavasseur|title=A manual of materia medica and pharmacy, from the Fr. of H.M. Edwards and P. Vavasseur, corrected by J. Davies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M75Q-5iRUjwC&pg=PR12|year=1831|page=12}}</ref>

When tea-drinking was first introduced to England circa 1660, tea was rare and expensive, as a consequence of which teacups and teaspoons were smaller than today. This situation persisted until 1784, when the [[Commutation Act]] reduced the tax on tea from 119% to 12.5%.<ref>Tea.co.uk. (2020). UK Tea & Infusions Association{{Snd}} Illicit Tea Trades. [online] Available at: https://www.tea.co.uk/tea-smuggling [Accessed 1 February 2020].</ref> As the price of tea declined, the size of teacups and teaspoons increased. By the 1850s, the teaspoon as a unit of culinary measure had increased to <small>{{frac|3}}</small> of a tablespoon, but the apothecary unit of measure remained the same.<ref name="Griffith1859">{{cite book |author=Robert Eglesfeld Griffith |title=A universal formulary: containing the methods of preparing and administering officinal and other medicines. The whole adapted to physicians and pharmaceutists |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-4jAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA25|year=1859 |publisher=H.C. Lea |page=25}}</ref> Nevertheless, the teaspoon, usually under its Latin name, continued to be used in apothecaries' measures for several more decades, with the original definition of one fluid dram.

==See also==
*[[Bar spoon]]
*[[Caddy spoon]], a specialized spoon used for taking dried tea out of a storage container
*[[Cooking weights and measures]]
*[[Dessert spoon]]
*[[Tablespoon]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist |30em}}

== Sources ==
{{Refbegin |30em |indent=yes}}
* {{cite book | first = William Harrison | last = Ukers | date = 1935 | title = All about Tea, Volume 2 | publisher = Tea and coffee trade journal Company | oclc = 1201914 | chapter = Evolution of tea-making appliances | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=viciAQAAIAAJ | pages = 436–448 }}
* {{cite book | first = Jane | last = Pettigrew | date = 2001 | title = A Social History of Tea | publisher = National Trust | pages = | isbn = 978-0-7078-0289-3 | oclc = 1008339683 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CwkTAQAAIAAJ}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Falagas |first1=M. E. |last2=Vouloumanou |first2=E. K. |last3=Plessa |first3=E. |last4=Peppas |first4=G. |last5=Rafailidis |first5=P. I. |date=August 2010 |title=Inaccuracies in dosing drugs with teaspoons and tablespoons: Drug dosing with teaspoons/tablespoons |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1742-1241.2010.02402.x |journal=International Journal of Clinical Practice |language=en |volume=64 |issue=9 |pages=1185–1189 |doi=10.1111/j.1742-1241.2010.02402.x|pmid=20653796 |s2cid=3062421 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Veitgh |first1=Henry Newton |title=Spoons Of Old English Plate |journal=International Studio |date=October 1923 |volume=LXXVIII |issue=317 |pages=121–124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QPtGAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA3-PA21}}
* {{cite journal | first1 = Rodris | last1 = Roth |title=Tea Drinking in 18th-Century America: Its Etiquette and Equipage |journal=United States National Museum Bulletin |date=1961 |volume=225 |issue=Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology |pages=61–91 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46775 |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |location=Washington, DC}}
* {{cite book | first1 = Jane | last1 = Grigson | date = 1 April 2007 | title = Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book | publisher = U of Nebraska Press | page = xviii | isbn = 978-0-8032-5994-2 | oclc = 1102099392 | chapter = Spoon Measurements | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Nr2Dna7hx1EC&pg=PR18 | quote = By a heaped spoon, I mean as much of the ingredient as you can balance on a spoon-shaped spoon ... In England, by tradition, all spoon measurements given in recipes were rounded; in other words, there was as much above the rim of the spoon as below it }}
* {{cite journal |last1=BBC |author1-link=BBC |title=Recipes for the Housewife |journal=[[The Listener (magazine)|Listener]] |date=13 December 1945 |volume=34 |page=715 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9fc0VtFRzYC&q=%22heaped+spoon%22+%22rounded+spoon%22 |quote=level spoon means level with the edges of the bowl; use a knife to level off... rounded spoon means as much above the bowl as you have in it: it is equal to 2 level spoons ... heaped spoon means as much as you can pile up onto the spoon: it is equal to 3, 4 or 5 level}}
* {{cite book | first1 = Nancy | last1 = Baggett | date = 11 September 2012 | title = Simply Sensational Cookies: Bright Fresh Flowers, Natural Colors & Easy, Streamlined Techniques | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | pages = | isbn = 978-0-544-18813-6 | oclc = 1132332173 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uLPqDwAAQBAJ&q=scant|quote=Scant means that the spoon or cup should not be quite full}}
* {{cite book | first1 = Linda | last1 = Collister | date = 25 October 2012 | title = Great British Bake Off: Learn to Bake: 80 easy recipes for all the family | publisher = Random House | pages = | isbn = 978-1-4481-4051-0 | oclc = 1100934893 | chapter = Spoon Measures - Level and Rounded| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MtHI5Frrd3YC&pg=PT15}}
* {{cite book | first1 = Fergus | last1 =Henderson | first2 = Justin Piers | last2 = Gellatly | date = 6 December 2008 | title = Beyond Nose to Tail: More Omnivorous Recipes for the Adventurous Cook | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing USA | pages = | isbn = 978-1-59691-805-4 | oclc = 858912920 | chapter = Conversion Tables | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Krar0BHrqlEC&q=%20%22rounded%22}}
* {{cite book | first1 = Mary Johnson Bailey | last1 = Lincoln | date = 1903 | title = Boston School Kitchen Text-book: Lessons in Cooking for the Use of Classes in Public and Industrial Schools | publisher = Little, Brown | page = 24 | oclc = 4053808 | chapter = Measuring| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=e880AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA24| quote = A tablespoonful of flour, sugar and butter is a rounded spoonful. A teaspoonful of salt, soda, pepper and spice is a level spoonful. A heaped spoonful is all the spoon will hold }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170821044624/http://www.nhs.uk/news/2010/July07/Pages/teaspoons-not-for-measuring-child-medicines.aspx UK National Health Service (NHS) ''Spoons give wrong medicine doses''] (Archived version of "retired" NHS page.)
*[https://www.medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002209.htm US National Institutes of Health (NIH) MedlinePlus ''Liquid medication administration'']

{{Imperial units}}
{{United States Customary Units}}

[[Category:Cooking weights and measures]]
[[Category:Spoons]]
[[Category:Teaware|Spoon]]
[[Category:Units of volume]]
[[Category:Customary units of measurement in the United States]]
[[Category:Imperial units]]
[[Category:Metricated units]]
[[Category:Alcohol measurement]]