firkin

From Middle Dutch *vierdekijn, diminutive of vierde (“fourth”),[1] from vier (“four”); equivalent to fourth +‎ -kin.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈfɝkɪn/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɜːkɪn/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kɪn

firkin (plural firkins)

1. (British) A varying measure of capacity, usually being a quarter of a barrel; specifically, a measure equal to nine imperial gallons.
   • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 205:

     23 Hen. VIII, cap. 4... The barrel of beer is to hold 36 gallons, the kilderkin 18 gallons the firkin 9. But the barrel, kilderkin, and firkin of ale are to contain 32, 16, and 8 gallons.

   • 1987, Keith Dunstan, The Amber Nectar, Ringwood: Vicking O'Neil, page 81:

     Barrels came in firkins, nine gallons; kilderkins, eighteen gallons; halves, twenty-seven gallons; barrels, thirty-six gallons and hogsheads, fifty-four.

2. (US) A small wooden vessel or cask of indeterminate size, used for butter, lard, etc.
3. A measurement for the mass of butter, equalling 56 pounds.

• Rifkin