tun
part of speech
noun (a tun, tuns)
meaning for a pupil
1) A tun is a very large barrel or cask, used in the past for wine, beer or water. tree →
2) A tun was also an old unit for measuring how much liquid fits in such a barrel, a big amount. tree →
3) It is a rare, old word; do not mix it up with «ton», «tonne» or «tune». tree →
sense in the lessons
In history lessons about ships and old trade, wine was carried in tuns, and the size of ships was once measured by how many tuns they could carry, which is where the word «tonnage» comes from. In stories set long ago, cellars and taverns may have tuns. It is not used in everyday modern speech.
examples
- The ship's cellar held a tun of wine. tree →
- A tun is much bigger than an ordinary barrel. tree →
- The old brewery had wooden tuns taller than a man. tree →
- Sailors filled a tun with fresh water before the voyage. tree →
- The word «ton» comes from the old word «tun». tree →
- In the story, the boy hid inside an empty tun. tree →
- ‘What is the matter with you?’ his father often said to him. ‘You have everything you can possibly wish for: a good bed, good food, and tuns full of beer. tree →
note
Countable noun: a tun, two tuns. Homophone traps: «ton» and «tonne» (weights) can sound the same; «tune» is music. Rare in modern English. In maths it is not a unit pupils use today.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «tun» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.