nipperkin
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Probably from nip (“a dram or sip”) + -er + -kin as in kilderkin.
Noun
[edit]nipperkin (plural nipperkins)
- (archaic) A small cup or other vessel, of perhaps 1/8 pint in volume.
- (archaic) A small amount of beer, wine, or other liquid, of perhaps 1/8 pint in volume.
- 1822 May 29, [Walter Scott], chapter XII, in The Fortunes of Nigel. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 297:
- [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.