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tun

 
Dictionary: tun   (tŭn) pronunciation

n.
  1. A large cask for liquids, especially wine.
  2. A measure of liquid capacity, especially one equivalent to approximately 252 gallons (954 liters).

[Middle English, from Old English tunne, possibly of Celtic origin.]


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Obsolete measure; a large cask holding 216 imperial gallons (972 litres) of ale; 252 gallons (1134 litres) of wine.


sometimes its derivative ton

A very large bulk-measure cask, with established volumes and quantities for various liquids and other commodities in historic marketplaces, typically weighing about a ton.
[Connor R. D. The Weights and Measures of England (London: HMSO, 1987)]

volume BI 210 BI gal (954.68~ L, 252.20~ US gal); see Table 57(a).

Table 57(a)
UK, US-CUS-C:SIUS-C liq
firkin* of ale59.7~ L15.8~ gal
2kilderkin59.7~ L15.8~ gal
42barrel119.~ L31.5~ gal
842hogshead239.~ L63.0~ gal
16842pipe, butt477.~ L126.~ gal
3216842tun954.~ L252.~ gal
* a firkin of ale or beer; see Table 57(b) for firkin of wine.


US-C 252 US gal (953.92~ L, 209.83~ BI gal); see Table 57(b).Table 57(b)
UK, US-CUS-C:SIUS-C liq
rundlet68.2~ L18.0~ gal
tierce159.~ L42.0~ gal
2firkin,* puncheon,tertian318.~ L84.1~ gal
736pipe477.~ L126.~ gal
14632tun954.~ L252.~ gal
* a firkin of wine; see Table 57(a) for firkin of ale or beer.

History

Originally 256 gallons, so utterly compatible with the regular binary structure still persisting for smaller volume units, the tun was specified as 252 (wine) gallons in an English statute of 1425, i.e. as in the USA today. The BI system, introduced in 1825, merely changed the number to compensate for its larger gallon.
[Connor R. D. The Weights and Measures of England (London: HMSO, 1987)]


[De]

Unit equal to 365 solar days used in the Classic Maya long count system.

Wikipedia:

Tun(volume)

Top

The tun is an old English unit of wine cask volume, holding about 954 litres, almost a cubic metre. Etymologically it is identical to the ton, a unit of mass or weight. Originally, it was a genuine unit of volume and measured 256 gallons (28), which is the base for the name of the quarter of 64 corn gallons. Its later division into 210 imperial or 252 wine gallons was chosen to be evenly divisible by small integers, including seven:

210 
= 2 · 3 · 5 · 7
252 
= 2² · 3² · 7

Queen Anne’s wine gallon is 231 cubic inches (3 × 7 × 11 in³), which makes the tun based on it exactly 2² · 3³ · 7² · 11 = 58,212 in³, which is a cylinder with diameter and height of 42 in both.

Contents

Chart

English casks of wine [1]
gallon rundlet barrel tierce hogshead firkin, puncheon, tertian pipe, butt tun
1 tun
1 2 pipes, butts
1 1+12 3 firkins, puncheons, tertians
1 1+13 2 4 hogsheads
1 1+12 2 3 6 tierces
1 1+13 2 2+23 4 8 barrels
1 1+34 2+13 3+12 4+23 7 14 rundlets
1 18 31+12 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 26+14 35 52+12 70 105 210 gallons (imperial)
4.55 68.19 119.3 159.1 238.7 318.2 477.3 954.7 litres

Beer

It is assumed that the tun once also was the base for English brewery casks, whose now largest measure, the hogshead, is of a similar magnitude as its wine equivalent (between 220 and 250 litres). A different gallon was used for ale and beer, the ale gallon, which in modern times was 282 cubic inches (2 · 3 · 47 in³), which does not divide the 58,212 in³ nicely.

English casks of ale and beer [2]
gallon firkin kilderkin barrel hogshead (butt) (tun) Year designated
1 tuns
1 1+34 butts
1 3 5+14 hogsheads
1 1+12 4+12 7+78 barrels
1 2 3 9 15+34 kilderkins
1 2 4 6 18 31+12 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 54 162 283+12 ale gallons (beer)
= 4.62 = 41.59 = 83.18 = 166.36 = 249.54 = 748.62 = 1310.09 litres (beer)
1 8+12 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

There also were other, sometimes foreign tuns/tons, for example at least until the 16th century one of 240 gallons, grouped in sixty sesters of four gallons each.


See also

References


Translations:

tun

Top
Tun

Dansk (Danish)
n. - tønde, fad
v. tr. - fylde på tønder

Nederlands (Dutch)
vat

Français (French)
n. - fût
v. tr. - mettre en fût

Deutsch (German)
n. - Faß, Tonne
v. - in Fässern lagern

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - βυτίο, βαρέλι
v. - βάζω σε βαρέλι

Italiano (Italian)
botte, tino

Português (Portuguese)
n. - tonel (m), grande pipa de vinho, cerveja (f)
v. - guardar ou armazenar em tonel

Русский (Russian)
большая бочка, мера емкости

Español (Spanish)
n. - tonel grande, tina, cuba de fermentación
v. tr. - entonelar, encubar, llenar un tonel, envasar, beber

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - tunna, fat, jäskar, mäskkar
v. - tappa på fat

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
大桶, 大酒桶, 装入大桶

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 大桶, 大酒桶
v. tr. - 裝入大桶

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 큰 통, 발효통
v. tr. - (술 등을) 통에 넣다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 大酒樽, タン
v. - 樽に入れる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) برميل للخمر (فعل) يخزن بالبرميل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חבית גדולה, מיכל גדול לתסיסת בירה, טן (מידת-נוזלים - 252 גלונים אמריקניים)‬
v. tr. - ‮אחסן (יין וכו') בחבית גדולה‬


 
 

 

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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
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
Measures and Units. A Dictionary of Weights, Measures, and Units. Copyright © Donald Fenna 2002, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
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