What does "piggin" mean?

A small pail, can, or ladle with the handle on the side; a lading-can. In the colonial era, some buckets were made like a small barrel, but with one stave left extra long. This stave would be carved into a handle so the bucket could be used as an oversized scoop for scattering grain, slopping the hogs, etc.

What is a synonym for "piggin"?

Common synonyms include: pig, pigg.

Piggin

//ˈpɪɡɪn// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A small pail, can, or ladle with the handle on the side; a lading-can. In the colonial era, some buckets were made like a small barrel, but with one stave left extra long. This stave would be carved into a handle so the bucket could be used as an oversized scoop for scattering grain, slopping the hogs, etc. dialectal
"At length a little negro girl appeared, walking straight as an arrow, with a piggin full of water on her head."

Synonyms

All synonyms

pig pigg

Example

More examples

"At length a little negro girl appeared, walking straight as an arrow, with a piggin full of water on her head."

Etymology

From Middle English pygyn, from pig (“container for wine”), possibly so named from being made of pigskin. Compare Scottish Gaelic pigean, diminutive of pigeadh, pige (“an earthen jar, pitcher, or pot”), Irish pigín, Welsh picyn.

Related phrases

piggin bottoms lading can

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.