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.

---

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.

---

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

---

biggin ² British  

/ ˈbɪɡən /

noun

1. a construction, esp a house or cottage

---

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

See Examples For:

biggin

How little the poor couple guessed that the baby born "in thunder, lightning and in rain" would make of the clay biggin a world's shrine, to be bought by the nation for four thousand pounds.

From The Heather-Moon by Williamson, A. M. (Alice Muriel)

This was poetry indeed; like the Scotchman and his house, we kent it by the biggin o't.

From Shandygaff by Morley, Christopher

It was a lowly thatched clay biggin; with two rooms on one floor, and at this time was being used as a public tavern.

From Adventures and Recollections by Bill o'th' Hoylus End

Oswald’s wife then put before him a large pie, and some wheaten bread, with a biggin of good beer.

From The Children of the New Forest by Marryat, Frederick

The best coffee pot was found to be the common biggin having an upper compartment with a perforated bottom upon which to place the coffee.

From All About Coffee by Ukers, William H. (William Harrison)