Definition
In mercantile law, a tub is a unit of measure used in trade, designating a fixed quantity of certain commodities. Specifically, a tub contains sixty pounds of tea, and between fifty-six and eighty-six pounds of camphor, depending on the goods packed. The term functions as a commercial weight and measure, not merely a description of a physical container.
---
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A flat-bottomed vessel of width similar to or greater than its height, used for storing, packing, or washing; also, a bathtub, a small cask, a slow-moving craft, or loosely, any quantity contained in such a vessel.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): An open wooden vessel formed with staves, bottom, and hoops; a short cask or firkin, usually with one head; also the amount it contains, used as a rough measure of quantity, as in "a tub of butter" or "a tub of camphor" (approximately one hundredweight).
The legal meaning diverges from the common in a precise and commercially significant way: in mercantile law, "tub" is not a vague or approximate measure defined by what happens to fit in a container, but a fixed trade denomination attached to specific commodities at specified weights. A merchant or court reading a contract calling for "a tub of tea" was not estimating — they were invoking a recognized legal quantity of sixty pounds.
---
Why It Matters in Research
TUB is a minor but instructive example of the broader category of historical trade measures that carried legal weight in commercial disputes, customs assessments, and commodity contracts. Researchers working in early commercial law, customs and excise records, or colonial-era trade documents may encounter "tub" used with the precision of a legal unit rather than the looseness of a colloquial description.
The key trap: historical sources, including general dictionaries and many merchant manuals, treat "tub" as approximate — roughly a hundredweight of camphor, for instance, per Webster's 1913. The legal dictionaries, drawing on Jacob, fix the tea quantity at exactly sixty pounds and give a range for camphor (fifty-six to eighty-six pounds). That range itself signals that legal usage acknowledged some commodity-specific variation, which matters when interpreting contracts or customs schedules.
Researchers should also note that all three historical legal dictionaries sourced here (Black's 1st, Black's 2nd, and Bouvier's) are in complete agreement and trace the definition to Jacob's Law Dictionary — meaning this entry in the Law Mind corpus has a single traceable lineage, not independent corroboration. The definition has not evolved; it was copied forward. This limits its authority as evidence of broad usage and suggests Jacob's is the primary source to consult for deeper context.
For corpus connections: TUB belongs to a cluster of obsolete trade measure terms — alongside FIRKIN, TIERCE, HOGSHEAD, and BARREL — that appear in historical commodity law, weights-and-measures statutes, and maritime cargo disputes. Researchers working on tea trade regulations or East India Company documentation may find "tub" used with specific legal significance in English commercial records of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries.
---
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (1st and 2nd editions) and Bouvier's Law Dictionary are in complete textual agreement, all citing Jacob. This uniformity is notable: there is no divergence, qualification, or updating across the editions. The definition appears to have been lifted from Jacob and transmitted without independent verification or expansion.
Webster's 1913 is useful as a corrective: it records the common understanding of "tub of camphor" as approximately one hundredweight (roughly 112 pounds), which sits well above the legal maximum of eighty-six pounds recorded in the legal dictionaries. This discrepancy illustrates how trade measures could be simultaneously standardized in law and looser in general commercial practice — a recurring problem in historical commodity disputes.
What the historical sources miss entirely: any statutory basis for the measure, any English or American customs legislation fixing the "tub" as a legal unit, and any indication of whether the definition applies equally in American and English commercial contexts. The entry in all three sources is bare and referential. Researchers needing deeper authority should consult Jacob's Law Dictionary directly and English customs and excise records of the relevant period.
---
Jurisdictional Note
The legal definition derives entirely from English mercantile law as recorded by Jacob. American legal dictionaries adopted it without apparent modification, but there is no evidence of U.S. statutory adoption of "tub" as a defined unit of measure. Researchers applying this definition in an American historical context should treat it as persuasive commercial custom rather than confirmed domestic legal standard.
---