piggin

English edit

Origin obscure (possibly Celtic) but dates back at least to the 14th century. Scots; compare Scottish Gaelic pigean, diminutive of pigeadh, pige (“an earthen jar, pitcher, or pot”), Irish pigín, pighead, Welsh picyn.

piggin (plural piggins)

(dialect) A small pail, can or ladle with the handle on the side; a lading-can. In the colonial era, some buckets were made like a small barrel, but with one stave left extra long. This stave would be carved into a handle so the bucket could be used as an oversized scoop for scattering grain, slopping the hogs, etc.
Synonyms: pig, pigg
- 1899, Charles W. Chesnutt, The Goophered Grapevine:
  At length a little negro girl appeared, walking straight as an arrow, with a piggin full of water on her head.