pint
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /paɪnt/
rhymes: -aɪnt
Forms: form: pints
Etymology: From Middle English pinte, from Old French pinte, assumed from Vulgar Latin *pincta (“a mark used to indicate a level of quantity against a larger measure”), from Latin picta (“painted”), from Latin pingō (“paint”, verb). Doublet of pinto and Pinto.
Senses: glosses: A unit of volume, equivalent to:
one eighth of a gallon, specifically:
20 fluid ounces, approximately 568 millilitres (an imperial pint).
glosses: A unit of volume, equivalent to:
one eighth of a gallon, specifically:
one half quart.
16 US fluid ounces [473 millilitres] for liquids (a US liquid pint) or
glosses: A unit of volume, equivalent to:
one eighth of a gallon, specifically:
one half quart.
approximately 33.6 cubic inches [550.6 cubic centimeters] for dry goods (a US dry pint).
glosses: A unit of volume, equivalent to:
1.696 liters.
qualifier: Hungary
examples: text: The prices of the second class are given by the ounce; thus […] for a pint, of 12 ounces;
ref: 1822, The Monthly Gazette of Health, page 832:
text: As a good illustration, this work shows that it is possible to fill 12-ounce pints for carry-out trade. This leads the ice cream manufacturers to feel that a large part of the trouble encountered comes from merchandising.
ref: 1928, Ice Cream Trade Journal, page 58:
text: […] a 12-ounce pint of laudanum every five days, or about 1,000 drops a day. The story of Coleridge's opium addiction is further confused by his habit of referring to laudanum as a stimulant.
ref: 1968, Alethea Hayter, Opium and the Romantic Imagination, Univ of California Press, page 194:
text: ... 12 - ounce pints of beer or ale may be substituted . Visitors under 16 cannot legally bring in tobacco . The liquor allowance does not apply to minors below the age limit prevailing in the province you are entering . Apart from these[…]
ref: 1973, Ted Kosoy, A Guide for Travellers in Canada:
text: Forget quarts and 12-ounce "pints". Given the amounts of Pepsi and 7-up , 3.2 beer and California wine, tequila and sour mash we consume, it won't be long before we learn our capacities in this new language.
ref: 1975, American Metric Journal, numbers 3-4, page 36:
text: 4 medium scoops coffee ice cream (about 1 pint/12 ounces/340 grams), softened until just melty at the edges
ref: 2012 June 25, Adam Ried, Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes: 100 Thick and Creamy Shakes You Can Make At Home: 100 Classic and Contemporary Recipes, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN:
glosses: A unit of volume, equivalent to:
12 fluid ounces.
qualifier: formerly medicine; now chiefly some US bars and ice cream sellers; formerly medicine; now chiefly some US bars and ice cream sellers
examples: text: Please leave three pints tomorrow, milkman.
glosses: A pint of milk.
examples: text: A couple of pints please, barman.
text: Finn: You must have a terrible thirst on you tonight. I've never seen a man drink two pints at the same time.
ref: 1998, Kirk Jones, Waking Ned, Tomboy films:
glosses: A glass of beer or cider, served by the pint.
Derived terms: cuckoopint
dirty pint
full pint
half-pint
hot pint
imperial pint
pinta
pinter
pint glass
pintless
pintman
pint pot
pint-size
pint-sized
Scots pint
Scottish pint
suck-pint
US pint
you can't fit a quart into a pint pot
Related terms: gallon
litre
quart