 English philologist Walter William Skeat (1835–1912) noted the origin is to be found in the name for a cask or liquid measure appearing in various forms in Germanic languages, in Dutch "oxhooft" (modern "okshoofd"), Danish "oxehoved", Old Swedish "oxhuvud", etc.The word should therefore be "oxheaved", "hogshead" being a mere corruption.A hogshead of Madeira wine was approximately equal to 45–48 gallons (0.205–0.218 m3).