English

Etymology

Pronunciation

• a UK /ˈnɒgɪn/
• Rhymes with: -ɒɡɪn

Noun

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. 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. The head.
   • 2003, James D. Doss, Dead Soul http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0312317441&id=LYVtbyi2BFEC&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136&ots=caRgQRq-7E&dq=%22bumped+his+noggin%22&sig=q5kBJVoKK15FwmN_EhcNVQeTPV4

     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 http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0312877285&id=YNLXjR-BKSQC&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&ots=Bz5V2NIwpI&dq=%22bumped+her+noggin%22&sig=iYyYDUozgqkUxVL0dFJVLrZubvc

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

Translations