tun

IPA/tʌn/
IPA/tʌn/

tun — noun

  • tunsingular
  • tunsplural

1. a very large barrel-shaped container made of wood, traditionally used to store b

1.nounC2
Definition

a very large barrel-shaped container made of wood, traditionally used to store beer or wine as they age

Example

The cellar master rolled the empty tun into the stone storage room.

collocation: empty tun / rolled the tun

Each oak tun in the brewery holds enough ale for two hundred people.

collocation: oak tun / holds [quantity]

Common collocations
  • oak tun
  • wooden tun
  • empty tun
  • wine tun
  • fermentation tun
  • roll the tun
  • age in a tun
Synonyms
  • cask

    a general term for a wooden barrel; 'cask' can refer to many sizes, while 'tun' implies a very large one

  • barrel

    a broad, everyday term for a cylindrical container; 'barrel' lacks the specific large-scale connotation of 'tun'

  • keg

    a small barrel, typically for beer; 'keg' is much smaller than a tun

Grammar Patterns

a tun

the tun

tuns

Usage Note

Primarily found in historical, brewing, and winemaking contexts. In modern usage, stainless steel tanks have largely replaced wooden tuns for fermentation.

Common Mistakes

The brewery ordered a new tun of 500 litres.
The brewery ordered a new tun that holds 500 litres.
'tun' refers to the container itself, not a unit of volume (use 'tunful' or rephrase for the capacity).
She poured the wine from a small tun.
She poured the wine from a small bottle.
'tun' describes a very large container (often hundreds of litres), not a table-serving vessel.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe containers for liquids, but they differ in size and typical use. A 'tun' is the largest — a very big wooden vessel used in breweries and wineries for fermentation or long-term aging. A 'cask' is a general wooden container of medium-to-large size, often used for wine or spirits. 'Barrel' is the most common everyday term, covering everything from small oak barrels for whiskey to large industrial metal barrels. A 'keg' is a small metal barrel designed for serving beer under pressure. 'Vat' can be very large but is often open-topped and used in industrial settings. For example: 'The winery stores its reserve wines in oak tuns, while the table wines are kept in standard barrels.'

cask ↗barrel ↗keg ↗vat ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • oak tun
  • wine tun
  • beer tun
  • fermentation tun
  • wooden tun

Phrases

  • roll a tun
  • fill a tun
  • age in a tun
  • store in tuns

Prepositions

  • in a tun
  • into a tun
  • from a tun

Etymology

Old EnglishMedieval LatinEnglish

Old English 'tunne' meant a cask or barrel. It came from Medieval Latin 'tunna', which may have Gaulish origins. Over time, 'tun' settled into English as the name for a very large wooden container for beer or wine, especially in brewing.

First known use

12th century

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1