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Glite Dictionary
pottle

pottle

9.9
A pot holding about two litres used as an old measure for liquids or dry food
  • noun
  • /ˈpɑːtəl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : pote
  • She poured the homemade soup into a large pottle for storage.

Examples

  • And he gives your Hollander a vomit ere the next pottle can be filled.

    Othello (1995)

  • The farmer filled a pottle with fresh apple cider from the press.

  • During the festival, vendors sold local honey in decorative pottles.

Synonyms

pot
vspottle
91 1.0

The amount of food or drink in a pot

is a precise old measure of two quarts rather than general contents
potful
vspottle
1 1.9

An amount that fills a pot

is a specific historical two quart container or measure

Surface Forms

pottle singular
pottles plural

Morphology

pottle = pot (semi-transparent) = pot + le

The form is recognizably based on 'pot' with a diminutive/derivational ending, but the specialized meaning as an archaic unit of measure (two quarts) is not directly predictable from the base.

Etymology

The word pottle comes from the simple word pot plus a small ending, so it originally meant a 'little pot' that people used to hold and sell goods. That's why a pottle is both a small container and an old measure of 'two quarts'.