noggin

See also noggen

English

Etymology

Origin unknown. (Irish naigín, Scottish Gaelic noigean are both from English.) Compare nog.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /ˈnɑɡɨn/, /ˈnɑɡn̩/
• (UK) IPA: /ˈnɒɡɪn/
• Rhymes: -ɒɡɪn

Noun

noggin (plural noggins)

1. A small mug, cup or ladle.
   • 1889, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Parson of Jackman’s Gulch

     Here Nat Adams, the burly bar-keeper, dispensed bad whisky at the rate of two shillings a noggin, or a guinea a bottle…

2. (dated) A measure equivalent to a gill. Also possibly linked to the phrase “naggin of vodka” (a small bottle of vodka).
   • 1836, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

     I don’t know whether…you…ever…went out to a slight lunch of a bushel of oysters, a dozen or so of bottled ale, and a noggin or two of whiskey to close up with.

3. (slang) The head.
   • 2003, James D. Doss, Dead Soul [1]

     Or maybe he bumped his noggin when he fell down—after he got clipped on the legs.

   • 2003, John Farris, The Fury and the Power [2]

     She bumped her noggin on the bulkhead above the doorway, smiled in apology for her presumed clumsiness.

Translations

small mug, cup or ladle

• Dutch: glaasje (nl) n, druppelglas (nl) n, (figuratively) vingerhoed (nl) m

measure equivalent to a gill

• Dutch: druppel (nl) m

head

• Dutch: kop (nl) m
• German: Birne (de) f, Rübe (de) f

• Russian: башка (ru) (bašká) f (slang), качан (ru) (kačán) m (slang, head of a cabbage), репа (ru) (répa) f (slang, turnip)

References

• OED 2nd edition 1989

Anagrams

• nig-nog