nipperkin

N1I1P3P3E1R1K5I1N1

noun

A small cup or other vessel, of perhaps 1/8 pint in volume.

Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nounnipperkin (plural nipperkins)

plural nipperkins

  1. archaicA small cup or other vessel, of perhaps 1/8 pint in volume.
  2. archaicA small amount of beer, wine, or other liquid, of perhaps 1/8 pint in volume.

    [L]et Tim send the ale and the sack, and the nipperkin of double-distilled, with a bit of diet-loaf, or some such trinket, and score it to the new comer.

    1822 May 29, [Walter Scott], chapter XII, in The Fortunes of Nigel. […], volume II (in English), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 297

Origin

Probably from nip (“a dram or sip”) + -er + -kin as in kilderkin.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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