noggin
/ˈnɑɡɪn/noun
noggin is spelled N-O-G-G-I-N: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, noggin means “A small mug, cup or ladle; the contents of such a container” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of noggin is noggins.
How many letters and syllables are in noggin?
| Letters | 6: N-O-G-G-I-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 50,539th 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 noggin?
Noggin appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th 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 noggin?
- US /ˈnɑɡɪn/
- US /ˈnɑɡn̩/
- UK /ˈnɒɡɪn/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-noggin.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of noggin
- noggins plural
- naggin
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does noggin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small mug, cup or ladle; the contents of such a container.
- 2
A small measure of spirits equivalent to a gill.
- 3
slangThe head.
- 4
A signalling molecule involved in embryo development, producing large heads at high concentrations.
- 5
Alternative form of nogging (“horizontal beam; rough brick masonry”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate noggin?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of noggin: nog.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Noggin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense head:
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 noggin come from?
Uncertain. First use appears c. 1588. Appears in publications in the 1600s (e.g. in The Tincker of Turvey) in several forms including the still-current Irish English form naggin, the rare older Irish, Scottish and Northern English form noggan, used by Jonathan Swift, and the Wexford form nuggeen. Tomás S. Ó Máille and some older dictionaries like Skeat's derive it from Irish naigín, cnaigín, from cnagaire, cnag, but the Oxford English Dictionary argues that Irish naigín and Scottish Gaelic noigean instead derive from English. Compare nog.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).