Noun

(en noun)

A large cask; an oblong vessel bulging in the middle, like a pipe or puncheon, and girt with hoops; a wine cask.

(brewing) A fermenting vat.

An old English measure of capacity for liquids, containing 252 wine gallons; equal to two pipes.

* 1882 , James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England , p. 205:

Again, by 28 Hen. VIII, cap. 14, it is re-enacted that the tun of wine should contain 252 gallons, a butt of Malmsey 126 gallons, a pipe 126 gallons, a tercian or puncheon 84 gallons, a hogshead 63 gallons, a tierce 41 gallons, a barrel 31.5 gallons, a rundlet 18.5 gallons.

A weight of 2,240 pounds.

An indefinite large quantity.

"He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit,

This tun of treasure; and, in lieu of this, Desires you let the dukedoms that you claim Hear no more of you. " -- Shakespeare

* (rfdate) Dryden

A tun of man in thy large bulk is writ.

(archaic, humorous, or, derogatory) A drunkard.

(zoology) Any shell belonging to and allied genera; called also tun-shell.

A part of the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar system which corresponds to 18 winal cycles or 360 days.