can, noun

Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Calque formed on Afrikaans kan jar, vessel for holding liquids.
A measure or container for wine, now usually a two-litre glass bottle. See also vaatjie sense 2 b.
1972 Het Suid-Western 13 Apr. 1More than a dozen full bottles and several gallon cans, as well as a large quantity of empty wine bottles were found.
1976 Het Suid-Western 10 Mar.The four of them sat in the kitchen drinking a can of wine Mrs Bothma had bought.
1977 D. Muller Whitey 23An elderly woman was decanting wine from a six-bottle can into a row of sparkling pint bottles...Several full cans of wine stood on the floor.
1977 D. Muller Whitey 44He looked at the can of cheap dark sherry, wondering if he would get a turn.
1979 Sunday Times 2 Feb. (Mag. Sect.) 2After waiting endlessly on a bleak sandy stretch for a young man to return from a house to where he’d hastened with a can of wine and promises of crayfish, I withdrew from the lists.
1987 Investing Today (pamphlet)Traditional stoneware ‘cans’ holding 500ml of mampoer will..join the festive season market at about R17.
1991 J. Pauw In Heart of Whore 44Get to a bottle store before closing time, buy 12 beers and a two-litre can of wine, find a peaceful place in the great outdoors, have a braai, fall over and sleep.
A measure or container for wine, now usually a two-litre glass bottle.
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19721991