Meaning

noun the southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861

noun a large metal pot (12 gallon camp kettle) for cooking; used in military camps

originFirst attested in 1859. Unknown, but may come from the Mason-Dixon line, the boundary between the northern states and the southern states, or from the slang term dixie for a Louisiana $10 bill (equivalent to English tenner), in turn from French dix (ten).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0