runlet

English

Etymology 1

From run +‎ -let. Compare runnel.

Noun

runlet (plural runlets)

  1. A small stream or brook.
    • 1876, James Russell Lowell, “Milton”, in Among My Books: Second Series:
      To trace out to its marshy source every runlet that has cast in its tiny pitcherful with the rest.
    • 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage, published 1993, page 91:
      She followed the dry runlet to where a jutting shoulder formed a nook matted with briars.

Etymology 2

From Middle English roundelet, from Old French rondelet (“roundlet”). More at roundlet.

Noun

runlet (plural runlets)

  1. (archaic) A wine measure, equivalent to 18 gallons.
    • 1820, Walter Scott, chapter X, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, pages 266–267:
      […] our cellarer shall have orders to deliver to thee a butt of sack, a runlet of Malvesie, and three hogsheads of ale of the first strike, yearly—If that will not quench thy thirst, thou must come to court, and become acquainted with my butler.
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