demijohn

noun /ˈdɛmɪdʒɒn/

1. A large bottle with a short neck, sometimes with two small handles at the neck, sometimes encased in wickerwork.

   “Reckon it's first-drink time,” the old prospector cried cheerily, and unearthed Monica's two-gallon demijohn.

Where it comes from

Partial calque of French dame-jeanne (literally “Lady Jane”), of uncertain origin. Note that the French Jeanne (“Jane, feminine of John”) has changed to the masculine form John, rather than the cognate English Jane.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry demijohn (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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