biggin

[big-in]

noun Archaic.

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

a soft cap worn while sleeping; nightcap.

Nearby words

Origin of biggin

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

biggin

[big-in]

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for biggin

Pay the bill, Biggin, and join me in the billiard-room, quick!
A Fool For Love|Francis Lynde
But it is best to have a biggin in the form of an urn, in which the coffee can both be made and brought to table.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches|Eliza Leslie
To make coffee without boiling, you must have a biggin, the best sort of which is what in France is called a Grecque.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches|Eliza Leslie
This is not a criminal matter, Mr. Biggin: will you give me a moment with my friend?
A Fool For Love|Francis Lynde

Biggin held his peace until they were safe from immediate danger of pursuit.
A Fool For Love|Francis Lynde

British Dictionary definitions for biggin

biggin

biggon

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

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