Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

tun

Syllabification: (tun)
Pronunciation: /tən/
Definition of tun

noun

  • 1a large beer or wine cask.
  • a brewer’s fermenting vat.
  • 2an imperial measure of capacity, equal to 4 hogsheads.
  • 3 (also tun shell) a large marine mollusk that has a rounded barrellike shell with broad spirals.
    • Family Tonnidae, class Gastropoda

verb (tuns, tunning, tunned)

[with object] archaic
  • store (wine or other alcoholic drinks) in a tun.

Origin:

Old English tunne, from medieval Latin tunna, probably of Gaulish origin

tun in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of tun in the British & World English dictionary
  |  Cite
Oxford Dictionaries Pro

For Oxford's best resources for writers, plus thesaurus, audio, and 1.9m examples.

Shop for an Oxford dictionary

Find the perfect Oxford dictionary for you in our online shop.
SHOP NOW ►

Word of the day

logomachy

/ lōˈgäməkē /
noun
an argument about words …