▪ I. tun, n.
(tʌn)
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. t{obar}nde); 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 aloð. 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. 4677 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 Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 255. 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 is 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 n.1 5]. 1743 [see gyle-tun s.v. gyle 4]. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & 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 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 58 Of annes wombe sprange ye oyle tunne Of gracyous helthe to alle that beth seke. 1596 Shakes. 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 {pstlg}40 per tun or {pstlg}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 J. 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,
tun hole,
tun hoop,
tun 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. = tunbellied;
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. H. 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. ii. 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. |
▪ II. tun, v. Forms: see
prec. n. [f. prec.] 1. trans. To put into or store in a tun or tuns. Often with
up, more rarely
in; also
absol.| α c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. xliii. (1869) 158 Þe fonelle..aualeth and tunneth þe wyn. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 506/1 Tunnon, or put drynke or other thynge yn a tunne. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) C c ij, Whan the newe wine is tunned. 1638 MS. Min. Archdeaconry of Essex lf. 18 b, He did brew on a Satterday and tunne vpon the Sunday morneing. 1696 Phil. Trans. XIX. 274 When they [Figs] were pulled off and Tunned up, to be sent beyond Seas. 1766 Entick London (1776) I. 410 Merchandize.., to be packed, tunned, piped, barrelled. 1843 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IV. ii. 489 To carry and tun the cider. |
| β 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 12987 Thys phonel Wyth wych my wynes I vp tonne. 1477 J. Paston in P. Lett. III. 175, I shall do tonnen in to your place a doseyn ale. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Entonner, to tonne wine, or poure it into tonnes. |
b. fig. To put or store as in a cask;
spec. to drink to excess, to swill oneself with. Also
absol.| α 1589 Nashe Anat. Absurd. 20 These Bussards thinke knowledge a burthen, tapping it before they haue halfe tunde it. 1595 R. Hasleton Strange & Wonderf. Things in Arb. Garner VIII. 384 Pouring water through a cane which was in my mouth..until they had tunned in such quantity as was not tolerable. 1628 Feltham Resolves ii. [i.] lxxxiv. 241 Whose delights are only to tunne in. 1761 Sterne Tr. Shandy III. xx, They [brain-cells] might continue to be injected and tunn'd into. 1841 Fraser's Mag. XXV. 514 He used to tun down beer..during dinner. |
| β 1597–8 Bp. Hall Sat. v. ii. 101 The swolne bezell..That tonnes in gallons to his bursten panch. |
c. (See
quot.)
| 1781 P. Beckford Hunting (1802) 337 Poachers..catch the young foxes in trenches dug at the mouth of the hole, which I believe they call tunning them. |
2. To fill as, or like, a tun or cask. ?
Obs.| 1635 Quarles Embl. ii. x. 6 A Cask, that seems as full, as faire; But meerely tunn'd with Ayre. 1664 Cotton Scarron. i. 104 Tunning themselves with Ale, and Beer. |
3. app. intr. Of young rabbits: To become corpulent or ‘pot-bellied’.
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece iii. 510 Ground Malt helps to recover the young ones when tunned. [Cf. tunning 2.] |
Hence
tunned (
tʌnd)
ppl. a.| 1671 Grew Anat. Plants i. §32 The said Aperture being that..to the Sap, which..the Bung-hole of the Barrel, is to the new tunn'd Liquor. |
▪ III. tun obs. form of
ton1,
town.