Tonel

A tonel, also known as a tun, is a historical unit of volume, primarily used for wine and other liquids. Its exact capacity varied throughout history and by region, but it was generally understood to be a large cask or barrel. In England, a tonel was often considered equivalent to two pipes, four hogsheads, or eight barrels. A common approximate value for a tonel was around 252 gallons. However, this could fluctuate, and for some commodities, such as herring, a tonel might refer to a specific weight rather than a volume. The term is derived from the Old French word "tonel," meaning a cask. The tonel played a significant role in trade and commerce, particularly during medieval and early modern periods, as it provided a standardized (though variable) measure for the transport and sale of goods. Today, the tonel is rarely used as a practical unit of measurement, existing more as a historical footnote in the evolution of metrology.