A
spork is a hybrid form of
cutlery taking the form of a
spoon-like shallow scoop with the addition of the
tines of a
fork (usually three or four). Spork-like utensils have been manufactured since at least the late 1800s;
patents for spork-like designs date back to at least 1874 and the word "spork" was registered as a
trademark both in the
U.S. and the
UK decades later. Sporks are offered in both re-usable and disposable form and are quite versatile. They are commonly used by
fast food restaurants,
prisons, and
backpackers.
The word
spork is a
portmanteau combining the words
spoon and
fork. The word
"spork" appeared in the 1909 supplement to the
Century Dictionary, where it was described as a
trade name and "a '
portmanteau-word' applied to a long, slender spoon having at the end of the bowl projections resembling the tines of a fork". Sporks are occasionally known as
foons.
[1] A similar term exists in
Finnish: a "luha" (properly "
lusikka-haarukka") is a portmanteau word combining the words for "spoon" and "fork" respectively, and is most commonly to issued to conscripts on national service. It should be noted that finnish luha is not constructed as a spork but has spoon in one end and fork in other and folds at the middle.