nipperkin means A small cup or other vessel, of perhaps 1/8 pint in volume. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “nipperkin” is a great word
NIPPERKIN — [Noun] A small cup or measure for liquor, holding about half a pint or less. Probably from nip ("a dram or sip") + the diminutive suffix -kin, as in kilderkin; of uncertain origin, first attested in the early 1600s. Unlike a "gill," a precise quarter-pint measure bound by statute, or a "tumbler," a larger, general-purpose glass, the nipperkin is its own modest ritual, both the vessel and its variable, personal allotment. It is the pewter cup warmed in a tavern’s firelight, the exact amber depth of a single consolation poured at dusk, the humble allowance that transforms a private moment into a ceremony—a testament to the human need to parcel out solace in manageable doses.
Etymology
Probably from nip (“a dram or sip”) + -er + -kin as in kilderkin.
noun
- A small cup or other vessel, of perhaps 1/8 pint in volume.
- A small amount of beer, wine, or other liquid, of perhaps 1/8 pint in volume.“[L]et Tim send the ale and the sack, and the nipperkin of double-distilled, with a bit of diet-loaf, or some such trinket, and score it to the new comer.”