Let us move on to a skillet. It is a utensil with the same design and functional features as a frying pan. Hence, skillets and frying pans are the same types of pans. But how did the confusion between skillets and frying pans appear?
Previously the word skillet was mostly used for frying pans manufactured of cast iron. Saying skillet, people implied the one of this material. However, the phrase cast iron frying pan is also quite common. That is why the two terms have become interchangeable. Both skillets & frying pans refer to the same types of pan, and there is no need to look for features to distinguish between them.
So, both of them have:
The geometry of a pan can affect how easily moisture is driven off of food, and how rapidly a sauce will reduce. It's often claimed that the sloped sides of a skillet help moisture exuded by cooking meats evaporate more rapidly, allowing you to sear more efficiently. And this is true, but only given the same cooking area. In other words, a 12-inch skillet with a 10-inch cooking area will sear foods more efficiently than a 10-inch sauté pan. The corollary to this, of course, is that, given an equal amount of food that needs searing over super-high heat (some steaks, for example), the large surface area of a sauté pan does not offer any significant advantages over a skillet—you'll still have to cook in just as many batches.
Ironically, a skillet is actually far superior at sautéing food than a sauté pan. To properly sauté, small to medium-sized pieces of food are cooked rapidly in hot fat, with constant agitation. The sloping sides of a skillet allow you to easily shake the pan, performing the jump-flip maneuver that cooks like to show off with. It's more than just ego-padding, though. It's the most efficient way to redistribute the food in the pan, ensuring even cooking for all pieces.