A kitchen utensil is a small hand held tool used for food preparation. Common kitchen tasks include cutting food items to size, heating food on an open fire or on a stove, baking, grinding, mixing, blending, and measuring; different utensils are made for each task. A utensil is a tool you can hold in your hand and use around the house. In the kitchen, common utensils are the knives, forks, and spoons that we hold in our hands and use to eat. The word utensil comes from the Latin utensilia meaning "things for use." A pen is a writing utensil. A spatula is a cooking utensil.