Definition of "pannikin" in English

noun

1. A durable cup or other vessel used for drinking made of metal and coated in enamel.

   • 1852, Ellen Clacy (diarist), cited in Susan Lawrence, "Households on Australian goldfields" in Penelope M. Allison (ed.), The Archaeology of Household Activities, London: Routledge, 1999, ‘a block of wood forms a table, and this is the only furniture; many dispense with that. The bedding, which is laid on the ground, serves to sit upon. Tin plates and pannikins… compose the tea service.’

2. The contents of such a vessel.