Most measurements within the English language have fairly easy abbreviations ― “tbsp” for tablespoon, “qt” for quart, “yd” for yard and so forth. So why, then, will we use “lb” to discuss with pound?
The reply goes again to historic Rome. “Lb” is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase libra. Astrology buffs will know that Libra is the seventh signal of the zodiac and is symbolized by a picture of scales.
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In Roman occasions, the phrase libra referred to steadiness or scales. It was additionally a part of a unit of measurement ― libra pondo, which has been translated as “pound weight” or “a pound by weight.” So the shorthand libra, or “lb,” referred to a pound by weight.
The earliest recognized makes use of of “libra” or “lb” for pound within the English language supposedly seem within the 14th century.
The “pondo” a part of that historic Roman measurement, in the meantime, is the origin of the phrase “pound” in English.
Though the phrase “pound” evokes a measurement of weight for Individuals, British individuals are extra prone to affiliate it with their foreign money ― the pound sterling, aka the pound. It is because its unique worth was equal to a pound of silver.
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Apparently, the image of a British pound (£) can be associated to the phrase libra, as it’s an ornate type of the capital letter L. The Italian lira ― and its related image ― additionally derives from libra. And the pound signal (#) is said to libra pondo and the way in which medieval scribes wrote the abbreviation “lb.”
A associated time period with an unintuitive shorthand is ounce, which additionally dates again to the Roman interval. Ounce is said to the Latin phrase “uncia,” which referred to one-twelfth of one thing as a unit of weight, size and quantity. We get the English phrases inch and ounce from “uncia” as a result of in historic Rome, a pound was truly 12 ounces, fairly than 16.
The phrase “uncia” grew to become “ynce” in Previous English, which ultimately changed into “inch.” “Ounce” got here into English by the use of the French “unce” or “once,” which additionally derived from “uncia.” The abbreviation “oz,” nevertheless, stems from medieval Italians, who used “onza.”
