Most measurements within the English language have fairly simple abbreviations ― “tbsp” for tablespoon, “qt” for quart, “yd” for yard and so forth. So why, then, can we use “lb” to seek advice from pound?
The reply goes again to historical 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 stability 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 identified makes use of of “libra” or “lb” for pound within the English language supposedly appear within the 14th century.
The “pondo” a part of that historical 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 more likely to affiliate it with their forex ― the pound sterling, aka the pound. It’s because its original value 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 sign (#) is said to libra pondo and the best way 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 historical Rome, a pound was really 12 ounces, fairly than 16.
The phrase “uncia” grew to become “ynce” in Previous English, which finally become “inch.” “Ounce” got here into English by the use of the French “unce” or “as soon as,” which additionally derived from “uncia.” The abbreviation “oz,” nonetheless, stems from medieval Italians, who used “onza.”
