hogshead
hogs·head/ˈhɑɡzˌhɛd/noun
hogshead is spelled H-O-G-S-H-E-A-D: 8 letters and 2 syllables (hogs·head). It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hogshead means “A cask of a certain size; its volume used as a measure of capacity for liquids, containing 63 wine gallons, or about 52+¹⁄₂ imperial gallons (a half…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hogshead is hogsheads.
How many letters and syllables are in hogshead?
| Letters | 8: H-O-G-S-H-E-A-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: hogs·head |
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 107,757th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hogshead?
Hogshead appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hogshead?
- UK /ˈhɒɡzˌhɛd/
- US /ˈhɑɡzˌhɛd/
- US /ˈhɔɡz-/
Hogshead has 2 syllables, split hogs·head in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-hogshead.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hogshead
- hogsheads plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hogshead mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
UKA cask of a certain size; its volume used as a measure of capacity for liquids, containing 63 wine gallons, or about 52+¹⁄₂ imperial gallons (a half pipe).
- 2
A large barrel or cask of indefinite contents, especially one containing from 100 to 140 gallons.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate hogshead?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of hogshead: hhd..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hogshead in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hogshead come from?
From Late Middle English hogshead, hagyshed, hogeyshed, hoggesyde, hokkeshed, Middle English hoggeshed, hogges-hed, hogeshed, hoggeshede, hoggesheed, hoggesheudes, hoggesheved, hoggishede, hoggisheed, hoggyssehed, hogyshed, hoogeshed (“measure of liquid capacity equivalent to about 63 gallons; large barrel or cask”, literally “hog’s head”), from hog, hogge (“swine, especially a castrated male swine”) + hed (“animal or human head”), equivalent to hog + -s- + head. The connection between the cask and the head of a hog is uncertain, but may refer to the shape of the cask.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).