suet

S1U1E1T1
UK/ˈs(j)uːɪt/

noun

The fatty tissue that surrounds and protects the kidneys; that of sheep and cattle is used in cooking and in making tallow.

UncommonScrabble 4

Meanings

nounsuet (countable and uncountable, plural suets)

plural suets

  1. countableuncountableThe fatty tissue that surrounds and protects the kidneys; that of sheep and cattle is used in cooking and in making tallow.

    Some jays, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice regularly feed at suet; others seem never to indulge.

    1998, Alan Pistorius, Everything You Need to Know About Birding and Backyard Bird Attraction
    2 more examples

    [T]he ſevvet of oxen […] is alſo good againſt the inflammation of the eares, the ſtupidity and dulneſſe of the teeth, the running of the eyes, the vlcers and rimes of the mouth, and ſtiffneſſe of the neck.

    1607, Conradus Gesnerus [i.e., Conrad Gessner]; Edward Topsell, “Of Cowes”, in The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, →OCLC, page 83

    Many seed-eating birds also need animal fat and protein which they obtain from insects, animal carcasses, and suet.

    1996, Laura Erickson, Sharing the Wonder of Birds with Kids

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Latinsebum
  2. Old Frenchseu
  3. Anglo-Normansuet
  4. Middle Englishsuet
  5. Englishsuet

From Middle English suet, sewet, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suet, siuet, from Old French seu, from Latin sebum.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian лой
  • лой (loj)fat
Catalan sèu
  • sèufat
Chinese Mandarin 板油
  • 板油 (bǎnyóu)fat
Czech lůj
  • lůjfat
Danish ister, flomme
  • isterfat
  • flommefat
  • nyrefedtfat
Dutch niervet
  • niervetfat
Esperanto sebo
  • sebofat
Finnish munuaisrasva, tali
  • munuaisrasvafat
  • talifat
French suif, graisse de rognon (de bœuf)
  • suiffat
  • graisse de rognon (de bœuf)fat
German Flomenschmalz
  • Flomenschmalzfat
Hebrew חֵלֶב, שׁוּמַן כְּלָיוֹת
  • חֵלֶב (khelev)fat
  • שׁוּמַן כְּלָיוֹת (shuman klayot)fat
Hungarian faggyú
  • faggyúfat
Icelandic mör
  • mörfat
Irish geir
  • geirfat
Italian sugna
  • sugnafat
Japanese スエット
  • スエット (suetto)fat
Latin arvina
  • arvinafat
Māori taupā
  • taupāfat
Persian پیه, وزد
  • پیه (pih)fat
  • وزد (vazd)fat
Polish surowy łój, sadło
  • surowy łójfat
  • sadłofat
Portuguese sebo
  • sebofat
Russian нутряно́е са́ло, по́чечное са́ло
  • нутряно́е са́ло (nutrjanóje sálo)fat
  • по́чечное са́ло (póčečnoje sálo)fat
  • са́ло (sálo)fat
Scottish Gaelic saill
  • saillfat
Slovak loj
  • lojfat
Spanish unto, untaza
  • untofat
  • untazafat
  • enjundiafat
  • injundiafat
Swedish njurtalg
  • njurtalgfat
Welsh siwed
  • siwedfat

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with suet

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

suet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suet

MLA

“suet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suet. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “suet,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/suet.

Source: suet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.