Forms: α. 1–7 tunne, 4 toun, 4–5 townne, 4–6 toune, 4, 7–8 tunn, 5–6 towne, 5–7 tune, Sc. twn(e, 6 tounne, 4– tun. β. 3–7 tonne, 5–6 tonn, tone, 5–8 ton, 6 toon. See also TON1. [OE. tunne, wk. fem., ME. tunne, later tonne; cogn. with OFris. tunne, tonne, OLG. *tunna (MLG., LG. tunne [tünne]), MDu. tonne (Du. ton), OHG. tunna (MHG. tunne, Ger. tonne); late ON. tunna (Sw. tunna, mod.Norw. tunna, tynna, MDu. tunde, Da. tønde); also med.L. tunna (9th c. in Cassel Gloss.), OF. tonne, Pr. tona (in other Rom. langs. only in derivative forms: see TONNEL, TUNNEL); also MIr., Ir. and Gael. tunna. Origin uncertain: app, not orig. Latin or Romanic.
As the OHG. retains initial t it must have been adopted (from LG. or med.L.) after the HG. sound shifting, i.e., after 700. Some suggest a Celtic source, viz. OIr. toun hide, skin, so that the original sense would be ‘wine-skin’; but the MIr. tunna looks like an adopted word. At present it can only be said that the word appears to be as old or older in the LG. group of langs., including OE., than anywhere else; its occurrence in the Corpus Gloss c. 725 is app. the earliest trace of the word in any lang. The later ME. spelling tonne was perh. after F., but prob. largely due to the scribal fashion of writing o for u, in contiguity to m, n, v, etc., as in son, tongue, honey, come, some, above, love, etc. From c. 1688 the two forms tun and ton have been differentiated in use: see TON1.]
1. A large cask or barrel, usually for liquids, esp. wine, ale, or beer, or for various provisions. Now less common than cask.
α. c. 725. Corpus Gloss. (Hessels), C 945. Cuba, tunne.
791–6. in Birch, Cart. Sax., I. 380. Twa tunnan fulle hlutres aloδ.
c. 1205. Lay., 14957. Rouuenne eode to are tunne Þer wes idon in þes kinges deoreste win.
c. 1325. Gloss. W. de Bibbesw., in Wright, Voc., 160. Cerveyse en tonne [gloss a toune].
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 309. He [Diogenes] torned þe mouth of his toun toward þe souþ in colde tyme and toward þe norþ in somer tyme.
c. 1425. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 658/20. Hoc dolium, townne.
c. 1475. Pict. Voc., ibid. 770/36. Hoc dolium, a tune.
a. 1529. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 194. In the ale tunnes.
1644. Evelyn, Diary, 6 June. The Abbot’s Palace, where we were shew’d a vast Tun (as big as that at Heidelberg).
1717. Prior, Alma, III. 426. L’Avare … Strikes not the present Tun, for fear The Vintage should be bad next Year.
1819. Keats, Lamia, II. 188. Wine Came from the gloomy tun.
β. 1340. Ayenb., 35. Tonnen mid wyn.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 4077. Grete tonnes ful of flour.
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., lxi. 252 (Harl. MS.). Do gete me … a ler tonne.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 158. He hath fed till he is as full as a toon.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., 11. Tonnes … for Wine; Beere … and suche like.
† b. A large vessel in general; a tub or vat; a chest. Obs.
α. c. 1205. Lay., 6079. Heo makeden ane tunne of golde and of ȝimme.
a. 1225. St. Marher., 17. Salomon the wise … bitunde us in ane tunne.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 21042 (Cott.). Þat Imperur wend [John] to mat In a tun was welland hat.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 1807. He tellis quyche a tunne of tresoure he hauys.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., 11. Wherefore serueth that great Tounne? To water the Barly in.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., I. ii. 254.
| He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit, | |
| this Tun of Treasure. |
1601. Holland, Pliny, III. vi. I. 61. Earthen vessels, as tunnes and such like.
β. c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 401/315. Þis tormentores nomen þis guode kniȝht and is sones and is wif, And duden heom in ane tonne of bras,… Gret fuyr huy þare-aboute maden.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 2246. Tonnes of bras wiþ queynte þynges þat make þe water euere hot.
a. 1450. Myrc, Festial, 31. Domician … send aftyr Ion, and made put hym yn a brasyn tonne full of oyle.
c. 1450. Brut, ccxliv. 374. Yn scorne & despite he [the Dauphin] sent to hym [Henry V] a tonne fulle of teneys-ballis.
1567. Wills & Inv. N. C. (Surtees), I. 266. A tonning tubb, a tonn for bread.
c. Brewing. A mashing-vat (mash-tun) or fermenting-vat (gyle-tun).
1713. [see mash-tun s.v. MASH sb.1 5].
1743. [see gyle-tun s.v. GYLE 4].
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 569. The mash-tun is shallow in proportion to its diameter…. When the mashing is completed, the tun is covered, to prevent the escape of heat.
1830. M. Donovan, Dom. Econ., I. 221. He urges it to a tumultuous effervescence,… threatening the overflow of the tun.
d. fig. or in figurative allusion.
α. 1447. Bokenham, Seyntys (Roxb.), 58. Of annes wombe sprange ye oyle tunne or gracyous helthe to alle that beth seke.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., II. iv. 493. A Deuill … in the likenesse of a fat old Man; a Tunne of Man is thy Companion.
1603. Knolles, Hist. Turks (1638), 148. In Iupiter’s court no man might drinke of the tun of blisse, but that he must taste also of the tun of wo.
a. 1704. T. Brown, Walk round London (1709), 25. Such a Tun of Female Fat [a very fat woman].
1909. Remin. Lady Wake, xv. 168. His enormous tun of a body.
β. 1340. Ayenb., 247. In-to þe greate tauerne, huer þe tonne is betake, þet is ine þe liue eurelestinde.
c. 1485. Digby Myst. (1882), I. 515. Tonne of tranquylyte, to yeve hem drynke that han thrustyd sore.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, I. Prol. 59. All man purches drink at thi sugurat tone.
2. A cask of definite capacity; hence, a measure of capacity for wine and other liquids (formerly also for other commodities), usually equivalent to 2 pipes or 4 hogsheads, containing 252 old wine-gallons.
α. c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 47. He hadde a vyneȝerd, þe whiche, ȝere be ȝere, bare hym x. tunne of wyn. and euery ȝere he payed þe tenthe tunne of wyn to tythe.
1504. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., II. 277. For xx twn of plaistir.
1535. in Weaver, Wells Wills (1890), 90. A tunne of leade or the value thereof.
1583. Rates of Custome Ho., H j. What number of all kinde of dry French wares make a Tun … Wol cardes,… Two C. dosen. Playing cardes,… Fiftie groce. Canuas … ii. M. vi. c. elles.
1655. Acts Parlt. Scotl. VI. II. 829/1. Two Buts, two Pipes, four Hogsheads…, six Tierces, three Punchions…, and eight Quarter-Casks, shal be accounted … for a Tun.
1674. Reg. Privy Council Scot., Ser. III. IV. 275. Importation of brandie upon payment of ten lib. sterling per tune for custome.
1778. Pennant, Tour Wales (1883), I. 54. The well … is found to fling out about twenty one tuns of water in a minute.
1898. F. T. Bullen, Cruise ‘Cachalot,’ 33. At the rate of £40 per tun or £4 per barrel.
β. c. 1400. Gamelyn, 316. Fyue tonne of wyn.
1526. Tindale, Luke xvi. 6. A hondred tonnes of oyle.
1654. Graham, Glencairn’s Exp., in Misc. Scot. (1819), IV. 69. She was loaded with near forty tons of French wine.
1793. Nelson, in Nicolas, Disp. (1845), I. 352. Five hundred tons of Wine.
† b. Tun of gold: 100,000 guilders, florins, etc. [transl. the corresponding use of tonne in G., obs. Du., etc.] Obs.
1603. Knolles, Hist. Turks (1621), 1052. Promising … to lend him a tunne of gold to pay them their wages.
1666. Lond. Gaz., No. 28/2. Holland and Zealand … are like to carry it in favour to the East India Company, upon payment to be made by them of 12 Tuns of Gold, as they count here, that is, about 120000 l. sterling.
1680. C. Nesse, Church Hist., 501. To let about nine tun of gold go yearly hence to Rome.
1683. Lond. Gaz., No. 1789/1. The King [of Sweden] … demanded of them a Supply of 16 Tun of Gold, that is 16 hundred thousand Florins.
3. A measure of capacity or weight: see TON1 3, 4.
4. ‘A chimney, esp. the upper part above the roof of a house; a chimney-pot’ (Eng. Dial. Dict.). Now dial.
1463. Bury Wills (Camden), 20. My newe hous with the iij. tunnys of chemeneyis.
1596. Harington, Metam. Ajax, 89. The tuns … drawing up the aire as a chimney doth smoke.
1859. Parker, Dom. Archit., III. ii. 37, note. Chimney shafts are still called tuns in some districts.
1905. in Eng. Dial. Dict. in various dialects of south and S.W.
† 5. Name of a prison in Cornhill, London. Obs.
a. 1500. in Arnolde, Chron. (1811), 92. Sette in the tonne in Cornhyll for his dishoneste.
1533. Fabyan’s Chron., VII. 64 b/2. This yere … certayne persones of London brake vp the tunne [so edd. 1542, 1559; ed. 1516 towre] in the warde of Cornhyll.
1598. Stow, Surv. (1603), 189. The Tunne upon Cornehill, because the same was builded somewhat in fashion of a Tunne standing on the one ende.
6. A kind of cup or small drinking vessel.
1555. in Hakluyt, Voy. (1599), I. 263. A great chamber, where stood many small tunnes, pailes, bowles, and pots of siluer,… all parsel gilt.
1634. Brereton, Trav. (Chetham Soc.), 6. The young children, girls, walked all the Sabbath in the afternoon, with cups or tuns in their hands. [The name is still applied at Magdalen College, Oxford, to silver drinking cups, holding a third of a quart, some of which are dated 1657 and 1663.]
7. † a. Sea tun, a name for a seal (the animal). Obs.
1601. Holland, Pliny, XXXII. xi. II. 451. Sea Men and Women,… Sea Tuns or Pipes.
1672. Josselyn, New Eng. Rarities, 31. A Catalogue of Fish,… Sea Tun.
b. Conch., = tun-shell: see 8.
1837. [see partridge-tun s.v. PARTRIDGE 5].
1861. P. P. Carpenter, in Rep. Smithsonian Instit., 1860, 184. The Tuns are nearly related to the Helmets, both in animal and shell.
8. attrib. and Comb., as tun † board, hole, hoop, stave; tun-like; tun-back, name of a breed of pigs; tun-butt (in quot. applied fig. to a very corpulent person); † tun form, Geom. the form of a tun; an ellipsoid or similar figure; tun-glass, ? a barrel-shaped drinking-glass; † tun-great a., as thick as a tun or cask; † tun-grown a., grown as big as a tun, very corpulent; † tun-gutted a. = TUN-BELLIED; tun liquor (see quot.); tun-man, a man who attends to a tun (1 c) in brewing; tun-pail, a kind of funnel used in brewing (cf. TUN-DISH); tun-room, a room in a brewery in which a tun (1 c) is kept; tun-shell, Conch. a shell of the genus Dolium (Cent. Dict., 1891); † tun-silver (Sc. Obs.), a duty levied upon casks of merchandise; tun-tub, = sense 1 c. See also TUN-BELLIED, etc.; also tun tight (ton tight) s.v. TIGHT a. 14.
1778. [W. Marshall], Minutes Agric., 15 Oct., an. 1776. A fine farrow of the large black-spotted *tun-backs.
1558. in Feuillerat, Revels Q. Eliz. (1908), 99. For furnysshinge of *tunbborde and other parties of the bancketinge howse at westmynster.
1829. Clapperton, Jrnl. Africa, iv. 112. A walking *tun-butt for a queen!
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., I. Defin., If it be lyke … a circle pressed in length, and bothe endes lyke bygge, then is it called a *tunne forme.
a. 1843. Southey, Comm.-pl. Bk., IV. 575. Always a *tun-glass standing by him.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1136. Euery pyler … Was *tonne greet.
1628. Prynne, Brief Survay, 71. Like so many Epicures, or *Tonne-growne Abbylubbers.
1607. Lingua, III. i. E iv. *Tun-gutted drones.
1657. Austen, Fruit Trees, I. 77. Take Clay and lay it round about the *Tunne hole.
1510. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 394. Towe *toune hopis for a penye.
1498. Aberdeen Regr. (1844), 426. Tunnys and vyther gudis *tunlyk.
a. 1813. A. Wilson, Prayer to Love, Poet. Wks. (1846), 168. Cits with tun-like bellies, Melted down almost to jellies.
1853. Ure, Dict. Arts, I. 57. The mother liquor of the ‘rock alum’ is called *‘tun liquor.’
1743. Lond. & Country Brew., III. (ed. 2), 221. The *Tun-man … ambitious to supplant the Workman Brewer.
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 1318. Racking-can, *tun-pail.
1870. J. Fleet, in Eng. Mech., 18 Feb., 561/1. Insert a tunpail and strainer.
1826. Art Brewing (ed. 2), 40. In cold weather keep the *tun-room closed.
1600. Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot., 377/2. Levare … doliorum pecunias (lie *tun-silver).
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIX. cxxviii. (1495), 934. Bordes and *tonne staues.
1842. J. Aiton, Domest. Econ. (1857), 330. A *tun-tub … to put the ale into to work, the mash-tub, as we shall see, serving as a tun-tub for the small beer.
