As a piece of cutlery or kitchenware, a fork is a tool consisting of a handle with several narrow tines (usually two, three or four) on one end. The fork, as an eating utensil, has been a feature primarily of the West, whereas in East Asia chopsticks have been more prevalent. Today, forks are increasingly available throughout East Asia. The utensil (usually metal) is used to lift food to the mouth or to hold food in place while cooking or cutting it. Food can be lifted either by spearing it on the tines, or by holding it on top of the tines, which are often curved slightly. For this latter function, in the American style of fork etiquette, the fork is held with tines curving up; however, in continental style, the fork is held with the tines curving down.
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The word fork is derived from the Latin furca, meaning "pitchfork". The ancient Greeks used[1] the fork as a serving utensil, and it is also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of I Samuel 2:13 ("The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the fresh flesh was boiling, with a fork of three teeth in his hand..."), however, it was not commonly used in Western Europe until the 10th century. There are many different types of forks and they can be made out of different materials like metal and plastic.
Bone forks had been found in the burial site of Qijia culture as well as later Chinese dynasties' tombs.[2].
The Romans used forks and there are many examples of Roman forks on display in museums around Europe.[3] Examples of these forks date from the second century A.D.[4]
Before the fork was introduced, Westerners were reliant on the spoon and knife as the only eating utensils. Thus, people would largely eat food with their hands, calling for a common spoon when required. Members of the aristocracy would sometimes be accustomed to manners considered more proper and hold two knives at meals and use them both to cut and transfer food to the mouth, using the spoon for soups and broth.[citation needed]
The earliest forks usually had only two tines, but those with numerous tines caught on quickly. The tines on these implements were straight, meaning the fork could only be used for spearing food and not for scooping it. The fork allowed meat to be easily held in place while being cut. The fork also allowed one to spike a piece of meat and shake off any undesired excess of sauce or liquid before consuming it. Wider use of the table fork in Western Europe was facilitated by Theophanu, Byzantine wife of Emperor Otto II in the 10th century.
By the 11th century, the table fork had made its way to Italy. In Italy, it became quite popular by the 14th century, being commonly used for eating by merchant and upper classes by 1600. It was proper for a guest to arrive with his own fork and spoon enclosed in a box called a cadena; this usage was introduced to the French court with Catherine de' Medici's entourage. Long after the personal table fork had become commonplace in France, at the supper celebrating the marriage of the duc de Chartres to Louis XIV's natural daughter in 1692, the seating was described in the court memoirs of Saint-Simon:"King James having his Queen on his right hand and the King on his left, and each with their cadenas." In Perrault's contemporaneous fairy tale of La Belle au bois dormant (1697), each of the fairies invited for the christening is presented with a splendid "Fork Holder."
The fork's adoption in northern Europe was slower. Its use was first described in English by Thomas Coryat in a volume of writings on his Italian travels (1611), but for many years it was viewed as an unmanly Italian affectation. Some writers of the Roman Catholic Church expressly disapproved of its use, seeing it as "excessive delicacy": "God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks — his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to Him to substitute artificial metallic forks for them when eating." [5][6] It was not until the 18th century that the fork became commonly used in Great Britain, although some sources say forks were common in France, England and Sweden already by the early 1600s.[7][8] The curved fork that is used in most parts of the world today, was developed in Germany in the mid 18th century. The standard four-tine design became current in the early nineteenth century.
The 20th century also saw the emergence of the "spork", a utensil that is half-fork and half-spoon. With this new "fork-spoon", only one piece of cutlery is needed when eating (so long as no knife is required). The back of the spork is shaped like a spoon and can scoop food while the front has shortened tines like a fork, allowing spearing of food, making it convenient and easy to use. It has found popularity in fast food and military settings.
FORK (Lat. furca), an implement formed of two or more prongs at the end of a shaft or handle, the most familiar type of which is the table-fork for use in eating. In agriculture and horticulture the fork is used for pitching hay, and other green crops, manure, &c.; commonly this has two prongs, "tines"; for digging, breaking up surface soil, preparing for hand weeding and for planting the three-pronged fork is used. The word is also applied to many objects which are characterizedby branching ends, as the tuning-fork, with two branching metal prongs, which on being struck vibrates and gives a musical note, used to give a standard of pitch; to the branching into two streams of a river, or the junction where a tributary runs into the main river; and in the human body, to that part where the legs branch off from the trunk.
The furca, two pieces of wood fastened together in the form of the letter A, was used by the Romans as an instrument of punishment. It was placed over the shoulders of the criminal, and his hands were fastened to it, condemned slaves were compelled to carry it about with them, and those sentenced to be flogged would be tied to it; crucifixions were sometimes carried out on a similar shaped instrument. From the great defeat of the Romans by the Samnites at the battle of the Caudine Forks (Furculae Caudinae), a narrow gorge, where the vanquished were compelled to pass under the yoke (jugum), as a sign of submission, the expression "to pass through or under the forks" has been loosely used of such a disgraceful surrender. The "forks" in any allusion to this defeat should refer to the topographical name and not to the jugum, which consisted of two upright spears with a third placed transversely as a cross-bar.
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From Old English forca m., force f., from Latin furca (“‘pitchfork; yoke’”). Later reinforced under influence of Old Northern French forque ( = Old French forche > French fourche), from the Latin.
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fork (plural forks)
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to fork (third-person singular simple present forks, present participle forking, simple past and past participle forked)
From Old Norse forkr (“‘boathook’”), from Latin furca (“‘fork, pitchfork’”).
fork c. (singular definite forken, plural indefinite forke)
| common gender | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative, dative and accusative | fork | forken | forke | forkene |
| genitive | forks | forkens | forkes | forkenes |
fork f. (plural forken, diminutive forkje)
A fork is a tool for eating. It has points called tines. Most forks have three or four tines. Some cooking-forks have two tines. The tines help you pick up your food. Forks are useful only for eating solid food. For example, a fork would be useless for eating soup because all the soup would fall through the tines and into your lap. Most forks are made of metal. Some are made of plastic or wood.
The word "fork" is also used to describe a two choices of course. A fork in the road would be a split in the road leading in two (or more) directions.
Forks are very common in Western Culture. Many countries do not use forks, but instead have their own ways to eat food.
   | An example of a Roman fork - Roman Silverware and Dishes - History for Kids! |
| | A History of the Table Fork - A History of the Table Fork |
| | Cutlery of the Middle Ages and Renaissance - Cutlery of the Middle Ages and Renaissance |
 | A history of the table fork - BYU - Page has had an error. |
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