tun

Meaning

Noun

1. A large cask; an oblong vessel bulging in the middle, like a pipe or puncheon, and girt with hoops; a wine cask. (See a diagram comparing cask sizes.)
2. A fermenting vat.
3. (historical) A traditional unit of liquid measure (from the volume of such a cask) equal to 252 wine gallons or 2 pipes.
4. Synonym of long ton: a unit of mass equal to 2240 pounds, 20 hundredweights of 112 pounds avoirdupois each.
5. (figuratively) Synonym of ton: any extremely or excessively large amount.
6. (archaic, derogatory, humorous) Synonym of drunkard: a person who drinks excessively.
7. Any shell belonging to Tonna and allied genera.
8. The cryptobiotic state of a tardigrade, when its metabolism is temporarily suspended.
9. (obsolete) A small silver cup holding half a pint, sometimes having a whistle in the handle that could not be blown until the cup was empty.
10. (UK, dialectal) a chimney.

Verb

To put into tuns, or casks.

Synonyms

gill

large barrel

large cask

cask shell

Translations

ton

tonel

fıçılamak

Fass

Fuder

βαρέλι 252 γαλόνιων

μέτρο υγρών

βαρέλα για κρασί ή μπύρα

tonneau

charretée

dolium

البرميل

vat

tonnen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tʌn/

Etymology

Cognate with Northern Frisian: tenn

Cognate with Dutch: ton

Cognate with German: Tonne

Cognate with Danish: tønde

Cognate with Swedish: tunna

Cognate with Icelandic: tunna

Cognate with Old French: tonne

Cognate with French: tonneau

Cognate with Middle Irish: tunna

Cognate with Welsh: tynell

In summary

From Middle English tunne, tonne (“cask, barrel”), from Old English tunne (“tun, cask, barrel”), from Proto-Germanic *tunnǭ, *tunnō (“tun, barrel, cask”), from Latin tunna, probably of Gaulish origin.
Cognate with North Frisian tenn (“tun, barrel, cask”), Dutch ton (“tun, barrel, cask”), German Tonne (“tun, barrel, drum”), Danish tønde (“barrel”), Swedish tunna (“barrel, cask, tun”), Icelandic tunna (“barrel”). Compare also Old French tonne, French tonneau (“ton, barrel”), Medieval Latin tunna (“cask”), Middle Irish tunna (“cask”), Welsh tynell (“tun, barrel”). It is uncertain whether the Germanic or the Celtic forms are the original.