HOGSHEAD

hogshead, a cask for holding liquor or other commodities, such as tobacco, sugar, molasses, &c.; also a liquid measure of capacity, varying with the contents. as a measure for beer, cider, &c., it equals 54 gallons. a statute of richard iii. (1483) fixed the hogshead of wine at 63 wine-gallons, i.e. 52(1/2) imperial gallons. the etymology of the word has been much discussed. according to skeat, the origin is to be found in the name for a cask or liquid measure appearing in various forms in several teutonic languages, in dutch _oxhooft_ (modern _okshoofd_), dan. _oxehoved_, o. swed. _oxhufvod_, &c. the word should therefore be "oxhead," and "hogshead" is a mere corruption. it has been suggested that the name arose from the branding of such a measure with the head of an ox (see _notes and queries_, series iv. 2, 46, note by h. tiedeman). the _new english dictionary_ does not attempt any explanation of the term, and takes "hogshead" as the original form, from which the forms in other languages have been corrupted. the earlier dutch forms _hukeshovet_ and _hoekshoot_ are nearer to the english form, and, further, the dutch for "ox" is os.