[sam-uh-vahr, sam-uh-vahr] 
| a metal urn, used esp. by Russians for heating water for making tea. |
| sam·o·var (sām'ə-vär') n. A metal urn with a spigot, used to boil water for tea and traditionally having a chimney and heated by coals. [Russian : samo, self; see sem-1 in Indo-European roots + varit', to boil.] |
samovar
metal urn, often of brass, with a spigot near its base, widely used in Russia to boil water for tea. In traditional samovars water is heated by means of a vertical tube, containing burning charcoal, running up the middle of the urn. A filled teapot is set atop the chimney to steep. A lighter brew can be obtained by adding more water to the teacup from the spigot. Traditionally, a samovar was used for all household needs that required hot water, and almost all families possessed one.
Learn more about samovar with a free trial on Britannica.com.