What Measures In “Butt” In English

The imperial system is quite a fascinating thing. There is a unit of measurement for wine (or whiskey) casks called a “butt”. That means if you fill the barrel up, you technically have a buttload of wine—though you’d probably just call it a “full butt”.

Not a lot of people still talk in terms of tuns and butts anymore. The antiquated terms are likely only used at wineries and distilleries these days, but they’re still fascinating. If only the etymology offered a trip back in history when big barrels of alcohol brought nations together. The words are not only derived from Old English but also Dutch, Italian, and French. “Butt” actually comes from “botte”, a Medieval French and Italian word for “boot”. In Italy, at least, “botte” is still used to refer to a wine cask.

At this point, you’re probably wondering just how much wine it takes to make a buttload. The actual amount has varied somewhat ever the years, but we’ll go with the numbers provided by the Macallan distillery in Scotland. According to those folks, a butt is 108 Imperial gallons. It is also half a tun which is 216 gallons. A third of a tun, 72 gallons, is a puncheon, and a third of that is a tierce. Half of a butt, 54 gallons, is called a hogshead. A boring old barrel is just 36 gallons, and a kilderkin is 18 gallons. The smallest unit is nine gallons, and it’s called a firkin. You can also call it a rundlet.

Keep in mind that these words are used in a measurement system that was basically invented by cavemen. The Imperial system measures the weight of humans in stones and the height of horses in hands. And good luck trying to remember how to convert things, because there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the formulas. The words are fun, though!

More about measurement systems in the USA you may read here.

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