kilderkin

K5I1L1D2E1R1K5I1N1

noun

A small barrel.

Scrabble 18

Meanings

nounkilderkin (plural kilderkins)

plural kilderkins · alternative kinderkin

  1. A small barrel.
  2. An old English liquid measure, usually being half a barrel; containing 18 English beer gallons, or 83.178 L.

    1882: 23 Hen. VIII, cap. 4... The barrel of beer is to hold 36 gallons, the kilderkin 18 gallons the firkin 9. But the barrel, kilderkin, and firkin of ale are to contain 32, 16, and 8 gallons. — James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, Volume 4, p. 205.

    1 more example

    Barrels came in firkins, nine gallons; kilderkins, eighteen gallons; halves, twenty-seven gallons; barrels, thirty-six gallons and hogsheads, fifty-four.

    1987, Keith Dunstan, The Amber Nectar, Ringwood: Vicking O'Neil, page 81

Origin

  1. Middle Dutchkinderkin
  2. Middle Englishkilderkyn
  3. Englishkilderkin

Inherited from Middle English kilderkyn, dissimilatory variant of kynderkyn, from Middle Dutch kinderkin, a variant of kinerkijn, itself a diminutive of kintal. See quintal.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

kilderkin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kilderkin

MLA

“kilderkin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kilderkin. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kilderkin,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kilderkin.

Source: kilderkin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.