Dictionary:
fir·kin (fûr'kĭn) 
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[Middle English ferken, ferdekin, probably from Middle Dutch *verdelkijn, diminutive of veerdel, one-fourth : veerde, fourth + deel, part.]
| 5min Related Video: firkin |
| Food and Nutrition: firkin |
A quarter of a barrel of beer, 9 imperial gallons (40 L); also 56 lb (25.5 kg) of butter.
| Measures and Units: firkin |
A small cask, for ale or beer = ½ barrel = 1/32 tun; for wine = ⅓ tun.
| Obscure Words: firkin |
| Wikipedia: Firkin |
A Firkin is an old English unit of volume. The name is derived from the Middle Dutch word vierdekijn, which means fourth, i.e. a fourth of a full-size barrel.
Nor need you mind the serial ordeal
Of being watched from forty cellar holes
As if by eye pairs out of forty firkins.
— Robert Frost, "Directive"
For beer and ale a firkin is equal to nine imperial gallons, seventy-two pints, or a quarter of a barrel (40.91481 litres). Casks in this size (themselves called firkins) are the most common container for cask ale. A firkin is equal to half a kilderkin.
For wine the firkin had a larger size, namely a third of a tun. A tun being 210 gallons in the UK and 252 fluid gallons in the US, thus a wine firkin is about 318 L (318.226 or 317.975). It is also called tertian or, preferably, puncheon (in the US also shortened to pon).
Butter and soap used to be sold by the firkin, too. In these cases it was a measure of weight, instead of volume: e.g., 56 lb (25.4 kg) and 64 lb (29.0 kg) respectively.
The term firkin is currently used to refer to antique wooden buckets, usually with wood handle and lid, about 10 inches (250 mm) high and 10 inches in diameter (about 10L or 2-3 dry gallons in capacity), formerly used to store sugar and other items.
The firkin (a firkin of water) is the base unit of mass in the humorous FFF System.
Contents |
| gallon | firkin | kilderkin | barrel | hogshead | (butt) | (tun) | Year designated | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | tuns | |||||||
| 1 | 13⁄4 | butts | ||||||
| 1 | 3 | 51⁄4 | hogsheads | |||||
| 1 | 11⁄2 | 41⁄2 | 77⁄8 | barrels | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 153⁄4 | kilderkins | |||
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 311⁄2 | firkins | ||
| 1 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 48 | 144 | 252 | ale gallons (ale) | (1454) |
| = 4.62 | = 36.97 | = 73.94 | = 147.88 | = 221.82 | = 665.44 | = 1164.52 | litres (ale) | |
| 1 | 9 | 18 | 36 | 54 | 162 | 2831⁄2 | ale gallons (beer) | |
| = 4.62 | = 41.59 | = 83.18 | = 166.36 | = 249.54 | = 748.62 | = 1310.09 | litres (beer) | |
| 1 | 81⁄2 | 17 | 34 | 51 | ale gallons | 1688 | ||
| = 4.62 | = 39.28 | = 78.56 | = 157.12 | = 235.68 | litres | |||
| 1 | 9 | 18 | 36 | 54 | ale gallons | 1803 | ||
| = 4.62 | = 41.59 | = 83.18 | = 166.36 | = 249.54 | litres | |||
| 1 | 9 | 18 | 36 | 54 | imperial gallons | 1824 | ||
| = 4.55 | = 40.91 | = 81.83 | = 163.66 | = 245.49 | litres |
| gallon | rundlet | barrel | tierce | hogshead | firkin, puncheon, tertian | pipe, butt | tun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | tun | |||||||
| 1 | 2 | pipes, butts | ||||||
| 1 | 11⁄2 | 3 | firkins, puncheons, tertians | |||||
| 1 | 11⁄3 | 2 | 4 | hogsheads | ||||
| 1 | 11⁄2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | tierces | |||
| 1 | 11⁄3 | 2 | 22⁄3 | 4 | 8 | barrels | ||
| 1 | 13⁄4 | 21⁄3 | 31⁄2 | 42⁄3 | 7 | 14 | rundlets | |
| 1 | 18 | 311⁄2 | 42 | 63 | 84 | 126 | 252 | gallons (US/wine) |
| 3.79 | 68.14 | 119.24 | 158.99 | 238.48 | 317.97 | 476.96 | 953.92 | litres |
| 1 | 15 | 261⁄4 | 35 | 521⁄2 | 70 | 105 | 210 | gallons (imperial) |
| 4.55 | 68.19 | 119.3 | 159.1 | 238.7 | 318.2 | 477.3 | 954.7 | litres |
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Look up firkin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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| Translations: Firkin |
Nederlands (Dutch)
vaatje, inhoudsmaat (ca. 40 liter of minder)
Français (French)
n. - tonneau, (GB, Mes) neuf gallons (environ 40 litres)
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - βαρελάκι
Português (Portuguese)
n. - barril (m)
Русский (Russian)
маленький бочонок, девять галлонов
Español (Spanish)
n. - cubeta, barril
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - fjärding, ankare
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
木制小桶, 容量名
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 木製小桶, 容量名
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 음료와 버터 또는 어류를 담는 작은 통, (액체를 측정하는 단위로 약 41리터) 퍼킨
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) الفركن : برميل خشبي صغير
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - חבית קטנה, חביונת, מידת נוזלים
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Copyrights:
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Measures and Units. A Dictionary of Weights, Measures, and Units. Copyright © Donald Fenna 2002, 2004. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Firkin". Read more |
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| Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
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