Gallon

How to spell gallon

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce gallon

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does gallon mean?

1. nounA unit of liquid capacity, equal to about 4.5 litres in the UK and about 3.8 litres in the US.

Gallon in a sentence

• The recipe for the punch calls for a full gallon of orange juice.

• He poured a gallon of fuel into the mower before cutting the grass.

Where does gallon come from?

Language of origin: French

Gallon entered English in the early 1300s from Old North French galon, a regional form of the word that appeared in Central French as jalon, both meaning a measure for liquids. These forms trace back to a Late Latin word galleta or galletum, meaning a pail or a measure of wine, whose ultimate source is uncertain and may be pre-Roman. From the start the word named a unit of liquid capacity, though the exact volume varied wildly by region and by commodity, so a gallon of wine, ale, and corn could each be different sizes for centuries. The British imperial gallon and the smaller US gallon are later attempts to standardise these competing measures, which is why the same word now denotes two different volumes on either side of the Atlantic. The spelling has stayed close to its Old North French shape, with the double l and the unstressed -on ending that can tempt writers toward -en.

How the word is built

• gallon (a single indivisible noun; from Old North French galon, a liquid measure)