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

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 Project Gutenberg

The lessons he received in the "auld clay biggin" were not forgotten through life.

From Project Gutenberg

"Your biggin isna broken, sir,95 Nor is your towers won; But the fairest lady in a' the land This day for you maun burn."

From Project Gutenberg

The easiest utensil is what is called a filter, or coffee-pot, or biggin, according to locality, with a top to diffuse the water.

From Project Gutenberg

His lordship yawned, stretched himself, and then poured some pale brandy into a coffee-cup, before filling it with the rich fluid in the biggin.

From Project Gutenberg