tankard

American  

[tang-kerd] / ˈtæŋ kərd /

noun

1. a large drinking cup, usually with a handle and a hinged cover.

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tankard British  

/ ˈtæŋkəd /

noun

1. 1. a large one-handled drinking vessel, commonly made of silver, pewter, or glass, sometimes fitted with a hinged lid

   2. the quantity contained in a tankard

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Etymology

Origin of tankard

1275–1325; Middle English: bucket; compare Middle Dutch tanckaert, Middle French tanquart

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Explanation

A tankard is a large, heavy cup with a handle. You might swig root beer from a pewter tankard at a Renaissance festival. Tankards are old fashioned mugs, rarely used today except as a novelty. Though they're almost always made of metal, occasionally tankards are wooden or ceramic. You might win an engraved silver-plated tankard as an award, or spy tankards in a movie during a rowdy pub scene. The word was first used in the 14th century, but it originally meant "large, tub-like vessel."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tankard

The objects, which sold for a total of £59,761, vary from a Victorian travelling shaving brush by pioneering silversmith Frances Douglas to an Imperial Russian tankard and an Edwardian jewellery box.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

The painter might have put his sitter’s hand around some other silver object, like a coffee pot, a tray or a tankard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

The blue and white cans match NATO’s colour scheme and show a knight holding up a foaming tankard of beer, with the alliance’s logo stamped on his armour.

From Reuters ● May 20, 2022

One of the most popular is likely to be “The North Remembers,” a potion of Scotch, sherry, coconut and falernum that comes in a horn-shaped tankard.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 25, 2017

He slammed his tankard down onto the bar, causing a small geyser of something frothy to erupt from the top.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

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