Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

kilderkin

[kil-der-kin]
noun
  1. a unit of capacity, usually equal to half a barrel or two firkins.
  2. an English unit of capacity, equal to 18 imperial gallons (82 liters).
Show More

Origin of kilderkin

1350–1400; Middle English, dissimilated variant of kinderkin < Middle Dutch, equivalent to kinder (≪ Arabic qinṭār quintal) + -kin -kin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for kilderkin

Historical Examples

  • We have adopted it as kilderkin, but have doubled its capacity.

    The Romance of Words (4th ed.)

    Ernest Weekley

  • Kilderkin, kil′dėr-kin, n. a small barrel: a liquid measure of 18 gallons.

British Dictionary definitions for kilderkin

kilderkin

noun
  1. an obsolete unit of liquid capacity equal to 16 or 18 Imperial gallons or of dry capacity equal to 16 or 18 wine gallons
  2. a cask capable of holding a kilderkin
Show More

Word Origin

C14: from Middle Dutch kindekijn, from kintal hundredweight, from Medieval Latin quintale; see kentledge
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