biggin

¹ American  

[big-in] / ˈbɪg ɪn /

noun

Archaic.

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

2. a soft cap worn while sleeping; nightcap.

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biggin ² American  

[big-in] / ˈbɪg ɪn /

noun

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

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biggin ¹ British  

/ ˈbɪɡɪn /

noun

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

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biggin ² British  

/ ˈbɪɡən /

noun

1. a construction, esp a house or cottage

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Etymology

Origin of biggin¹

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

Origin of biggin²

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

Example Sentences

‘Your biggin is na broken, sir, Nor is your towers won; But the fairest lady in a’ the lan’ For you this day maun burn.’

From Ballads of Romance and Chivalry Popular Ballads of the Olden Times - First Series by Sidgwick, Frank

The "auld clay biggin" in which Robert Burns was born on the 25th of January 1759, has been completely repaired and is now the property of the Ayr Burns's Monument trustees.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 "Austria, Lower" to "Bacon" by Various

This is no mine ain house, My ain house, my ain house; This is no mine ain house, I ken by the biggin o’t.

From The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. With a New Life of the Poet, and Notices, Critical and Biographical by Allan Cunningham by Burns, Robert

Coffee made in a French filter or biggin is considered better by many; but I have preferred to give a rule that may be used with certainty where French cooking utensils are unknown.

From The Easiest Way in Housekeeping and Cooking Adapted to Domestic Use or Study in Classes by Campbell, Helen

There comes into his house, into that "auld clay biggin," his muse, the spirit of a beautiful woman, and tells him what he can do, and what he can't do, as a poet.

From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 3 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Lectures by Ingersoll, Robert Green