- (Abbr. hhd) Any of various units of volume or capacity ranging from 63 to 140 gallons (238 to 530 liters), especially a unit of capacity used in liquid measure in the United States, equal to 63 gallons (238 liters).
- A large barrel or cask with this capacity.
hogshead
Dictionary:
hogs·head (hôgz'hĕd', hŏgz'-)  |
n.
| 5min Related Video: hogshead |
| Computer Desktop Encyclopedia: HHD |
| Food and Nutrition: hogshead |
A traditional UK measure of volume or size of barrel: for beer or cider contains 54 gallons (243 L); for wine contains 52½ gallons (236 L).
| Measures and Units: hogshead |
Symbol hhd. A bulk-measure cask, with established volumes and quantities for various commodities in historic marketplaces, = ¼ tun.
| Wine Lover's Companion: hogshead |
A cask or barrel of varying capacity used to ship wines (and spirits). A hogshead can vary in size from approximately 225 liters to about 275 liters (about 60 to 73 U.S. Gallons).
| Unit Conversions: hogsheads (British) |
To convert from hogsheads (British) to:
cubic feet,
multiply by 10.114.
cubic feet,
multiply by 8.42184.
gallons (U.S.),
multiply by 63.
Related measurements:
hogsheads (British)
| Obscure Words: hogshead |
| Word Tutor: hogshead |
IN BRIEF: A large cask or barrel containing 63 to 140 gallons.
One kernel is felt in a hogshead; one drop of water helps to swell the ocean.
— Hannah More (1745-1833)
| Wikipedia: Hogshead |
This article is about the unit of measure. For the Harry Potter location, see Hog's Head.
A hogshead is a large cask of liquid (less often, of a food commodity). More specifically, it refers to a specified volume, measured in either Imperial units or U.S. customary units, primarily applied to alcoholic beverages such as wine, ale, or cider.
A tobacco hogshead was used in American colonial times to transport and store tobacco. It was a very large wooden barrel. A standardized hogshead measured 48 inches (1220 mm) long and 30 inches (760 mm) in diameter at the head (at least 550 L, depending on the width in the middle), Fully packed with tobacco, it weighed about 1000 pounds (450 kg).
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) notes that the hogshead was first standardized by an act of Parliament in 1423, though the standards continued to vary by locality and content. For example, the OED cites an 1897 edition of Whitaker's Almanack, which specified the number of gallons of wine in a hogshead varying by type of wine: claret 46 (presumably imperial) gallons, port 57, sherry 54; and Madeira 46. (209, 259, 245, and 209 L) The American Heritage Dictionary claims that a hogshead can consist of anything from 62.5 to 140 (presumably U.S.) gallons (235-530 L).
Eventually, a hogshead of wine came to be 63 wine/US gallons or 52.5 imperial gallons (both ~238.5 L), while a hogshead of beer or ale is 54 gallons (250 L if old beer/ale gallons, 245 L if imperial).
A hogshead was also used as unit of measurement for sugar in Louisiana for most of the 19th century. Plantations were listed in sugar schedules as having produced x number of hogsheads of sugar or molasses.
The etymology of hogshead is uncertain. According to English philologist Walter William Skeat (1835-1912), the origin is to be found in the name for a cask or liquid measure appearing in various forms in several Teutonic languages, in Dutch oxhooft (modern okshoofd), Danish oxehoved, Old Swedish oxhufvod, etc. The word should therefore be "oxhead," and "hogshead" is a mere corruption. It has been suggested that the name arose from the branding of such a measure with the head of an ox.[1]
Charts
| 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 |
| 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 |
See also
References
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Translations: Hogshead |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - tønde, fad (mål, ca. 240 l.), fustage
Nederlands (Dutch)
okshoofd, inhoudsmaat, vat
Français (French)
n. - barrique
Deutsch (German)
n. - Faß, Oxhoft
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - βαρέλα (περίπου 238 λίτρων)
Italiano (Italian)
barilotto (per tabacco, zucchero)
Português (Portuguese)
n. - barril (m) grande
Español (Spanish)
n. - medida de capacidad, pipa
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - fat (för öl o vin), mått vanl. 52,5 gallons (eng.), 63 gallons (amer.)
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
大桶, 液量单位
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 大桶, 液量單位
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 大樽, ホッグズヘッド
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) برميل كبير تتراوح سعته بين 63 و 141 غالونا, مقياس, للسعه وبخاصه مقياس, أمريكي للسوائل يعادل 36 غالونا
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - חבית, מידת הלח, שישים ושלושה גלונים
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Learn More
 | hhd (abbreviation) |
| foots |
| oxhead |
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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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| Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. THIS COPYRIGHTED DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher. © 1981-2009 Computer Language Company Inc. 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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| Wine Lover's Companion. Wine Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2003 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Unit Conversions. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. 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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Related answers
- What is a hogshead?
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Mentioned in
- A Lovely Day For A Hogshead Whisky (2000 Album by The Dolomites)
- Tom Hickathrift
- tierce
- Title IX (law, United States)
- gallon (volume)
- tun (volume)
- vessel
- Justice of the Peace (American history)
- Lamb, Charles (Quotes By)
- end
