biggin

[ big-in ]

/ ˈbɪg ɪn /

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noun Archaic.

a close-fitting cap worn especially by children in the 16th and 17th centuries.

a soft cap worn while sleeping; nightcap.

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Origin of biggin

1520–30; <Middle French beguin kind of hood or cap, originally one worn by a Beguine

Words nearby biggin

bigfoot, bigg, big game, bigger, biggie, biggin, bigging, biggish, biggity, big government, Biggs

Other definitions for biggin (2 of 2)

biggin²

[ big-in ]

/ ˈbɪg ɪn /

noun

a coffeepot, usually silver, having a separate container in which the coffee is immersed while being boiled.

Origin of biggin

After Biggin, the name of its early 19th-century inventor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use biggin in a sentence

Almost as doubtful are the theories which would make the 'old mill' at Newport a Norse 'biggin.'
The Myths of the North American Indians|Lewis Spence
The coffee biggin, said to have been invented by a Mr. Biggin, came into common use in England for making coffee about 1817.
All About Coffee|William H. Ukers
Any coffee pot with such a bag fitted into its mouth came to be spoken of as a coffee biggin.
All About Coffee|William H. Ukers
A favorite device is the earthenware jug with or without the cotton sack that makes it a coffee biggin.
All About Coffee|William H. Ukers

The Triumph coffee filter was a cloth-bag device which made any coffee pot a biggin.
All About Coffee|William H. Ukers

British Dictionary definitions for biggin (1 of 2)

biggin¹

biggon

/ (ˈbɪɡɪn) /

noun

a plain close-fitting cap, often tying under the chin, worn in the Middle Ages and by children in the 17th century

Word Origin for biggin

C16: from French béguin; see beguine

British Dictionary definitions for biggin (2 of 2)

biggin²

/ (ˈbɪɡən) /

noun

Scot a construction, esp a house or cottage

Word Origin for biggin

see big ²

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012