scullery

/ˈskʌləri/

Other forms: sculleries

You're most likely to see the word scullery in an English novel, since it's a small room off the kitchen, usually in a very old, very British home.

In the old days, maids cleaned dishes and utensils — and sometimes clothing — in the scullery, out of sight of their wealthy employers. In some parts of Britain, the word scullery is still used to mean "kitchen," although few people would claim to employ a "scullery maid," or a low-ranking member of a household staff. The root of the word is in doubt, but it probably comes from the Latin word for wooden platter, scutra, or the Old Norse skola, "to wash."

Definitions of scullery

1. noun

   a small room (in large old British houses) next to the kitchen; where kitchen utensils are cleaned and kept and other rough household jobs are done
   type of:

   room

   an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling