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pannikin

pannikin

9.9
A small metal cup often made of tin for drinking or eating
  • noun
  • /ˈpænɪkɪn/
  • Archaic
translation icon : pannikin
  • She poured a little soup into a pannikin for the child to sip.

Examples

  • The old prospector drank his coffee from a battered pannikin by the fire.

  • He poured the soup into a pannikin.

  • Each soldier was given a pannikin of water before the march.

  • The campers used a pannikin to drink their tea.

  • The campers filled their pannikin with hot soup to warm up on a chilly night.

  • She poured the tea into her shiny pannikin before enjoying the view from the mountain top.

  • Each child received a small pannikin to use for tasting the homemade apple sauce.

Synonyms

cannikin
vspannikin
  • Archaic
9.9

A small old-fashioned cup for drinking, often decorative

is made of metal usually tin and is plain and functional

Surface Forms

pannikin singular
pannikins plural

Morphology

pannikin = pan (semi-transparent) = pan + kin

The meaning 'small pan' is derivable from 'pan' and a diminutive '-kin', but '-kin' is archaic/rare and may not be familiar to average learners.

Etymology

The word pannikin comes from the old word pan ('pan') plus the little ending -kin ('little'), like in napkin. So a pannikin is literally a 'little pan', which explains why it means a small metal pan or cup.