The pound or pound-mass is a
unit of
mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
used in both the
British imperial and
United States customary systems of measurement
A system of units of measurement, also known as a system of units or system of measurement, is a collection of units of measurement and rules relating them to each other. Systems of measurement have historically been important, regulated and defi ...
. Various definitions have been used; the most common today is the international
avoirdupois pound,
which is legally defined as exactly , and which is divided into 16 avoirdupois
ounces.
[ The international standard symbol for the avoirdupois pound is lb; an alternative symbol (when there might otherwise be a risk of confusion with the ]pound-force
The pound of force or pound-force (symbol: lbf, sometimes lbf,) is a unit of force used in some systems of measurement, including English Engineering units and the foot–pound–second system.
Pound-force should not be confused with poun ...
) is lbm (for most pound definitions), # ( chiefly in the U.S.), and or ̶ (specifically for the apothecaries' pound).
The unit is descended from the Roman (hence the symbol ''lb'', descended from the scribal abbreviation, '). The English word ''pound'' comes from the Roman ('the weight measured in '), and is cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language.
Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
with, among others, German , Dutch , and Swedish . These units are now designated as historical and are no longer in common usage, being replaced by the metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...
.
Usage of the unqualified term ''pound'' reflects the historical conflation of mass and weight. This accounts for the modern distinguishing terms ''pound-mass'' and ''pound-force
The pound of force or pound-force (symbol: lbf, sometimes lbf,) is a unit of force used in some systems of measurement, including English Engineering units and the foot–pound–second system.
Pound-force should not be confused with poun ...
''.
Etymology
The word 'pound' and its cognates ultimately derive from a borrowing into Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...
of the Latin expression ('the weight measured in '), in which the word is the ablative singular of the Latin noun ('weight').
Current use
The United States and the Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...
agreed upon common definitions for the pound and the yard
The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...
. Since 1 July 1959, the international avoirdupois pound (symbol lb) has been defined as exactly .
In the United Kingdom, the use of the international pound was implemented in the Weights and Measures Act 1963.
An avoirdupois pound is equal to 16 avoirdupois ounces and to exactly 7,000 grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
s. The conversion factor between the kilogram and the international pound was therefore chosen to be divisible by 7 with a terminating decimal representation, and an (international) grain is thus equal to exactly .
In the United Kingdom, the process of metrication
Metrication or metrification is the act or process of converting to the metric system of measurement. All over the world, countries have transitioned from local and traditional Unit of measurement, units of measurement to the metric system. This ...
and European units of measurement directives were expected to eliminate the use of the pound and ounce, but in 2007 the European Commission abandoned the requirement for metric-only labelling on packaged goods there, and allowed for dual metric– imperial marking to continue indefinitely.
In the United States, the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 declared the metric system to be the "preferred system of weights and measures" but did not suspend use of United States customary units
United States customary units form a system of measurement units commonly used in the United States and most U.S. territories since being standardized and adopted in 1832. The United States customary system developed from English units that ...
, and the United States is the only industrialised country where commercial activities do not predominantly use the metric system,[
] despite many efforts to do so, and the pound remains widely used as one of the key customary units.
Historical use
Historically, in different parts of the world, at different points in time, and for different applications, the pound (or its translation) has referred to broadly similar but not identical standards of mass or force.
Roman
The (Latin for 'scale'/'balance') is an ancient Roman unit of mass that is now equivalent to . It was divided into 12 (singular: ), or ounces. The is the origin of the abbreviation for pound, "lb".
In Britain
A number of different definitions of the pound have historically been used in Britain. Among these are the avoirdupois pound, which is the common pound used for weights, and the obsolete tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
, merchants' and London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
pounds. The troy pound and ounce remain in use only for the weight of precious metal
Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...
s, especially in their trade. The weights of traded precious metals, such as gold and silver, are normally quoted just in ounces (e.g. "500 ounces") and, when the type of ounce is not explicitly stated, the troy system is assumed.
The pound sterling
Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency general ...
money system, which was introduced during the reign of King Offa of Mercia
Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...
(757–96), was based originally on a Saxon pound of silver. After the Norman conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
the Saxon pound was known as the tower pound or moneyer's pound. In 1528, during the reign of Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
, the coinage standard was changed by parliament from the tower pound to the troy pound
Troy weight is a system of Physical unit, units of mass that originated in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the Grain (unit), grain, the pennyweight (24 ...
.
Avoirdupois pound
The avoirdupois pound, also known as the wool pound, first came into general use c. 1300. It was initially equal to 6,992 troy grains. The pound avoirdupois was divided into 16 ounces. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...
, the avoirdupois pound was redefined as 7,000 troy grains. Since then, the grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
has often been an integral part of the avoirdupois system. By 1758, two Elizabethan Exchequer standard weights for the avoirdupois pound existed, and when measured in troy grains they were found to be of 7,002 grains and 6,999 grains.
= Imperial Standard Pound
=
In the United Kingdom, weights and measures have been defined by a long series of Acts of Parliament, the intention of which has been to regulate the sale of commodities. Materials traded in the marketplace are quantified according to accepted units and standards in order to avoid fraud. The standards themselves are legally defined so as to facilitate the resolution of disputes brought to the courts; only legally defined measures will be recognised by the courts. Quantifying devices used by traders (weights, weighing machines, containers of volumes, measures of length) are subject to official inspection, and penalties apply if they are fraudulent.
The Weights and Measures Act 1878 ( 41 & 42 Vict. c. 49) marked a major overhaul of the British system of weights and measures, and the definition of the pound given there remained in force until the 1960s. The pound was defined thus (Section 4) "The ... platinum weight ... deposited in the Standards department of the Board of Trade ... shall continue to be the imperial standard of ... weight ... and the said platinum weight shall continue to be the Imperial Standard for determining the Imperial Standard Pound for the United Kingdom". Paragraph 13 states that the weight of this standard shall be called the Imperial Standard Pound, and that all other weights mentioned in the act and permissible for commerce shall be ascertained from it alone. The first schedule of the act gave more details of the standard pound: it is a platinum cylinder nearly high, and diameter, and the edges are carefully rounded off. It has a groove about from the top, to allow the cylinder to be lifted using an ivory fork. It was constructed following the destruction of the Houses of Parliament by fire in 1834, and is stamped "P.S. 1844, 1 lb" (P.S. stands for "Parliamentary Standard").
= Redefinition in terms of the kilogram
=
The British Weights and Measures Act 1878 ( 41 & 42 Vict. c. 49) said that contracts worded in terms of metric units would be deemed by the courts to be made according to the Imperial units defined in the Act, and a table of metric equivalents was supplied so that the Imperial equivalents could be legally calculated. This defined, in UK law, metric units in terms of Imperial ones. The equivalence for the pound was given as 1 lb = or 0.45359 kg, which made the kilogram equivalent to about .
In 1883, it was determined jointly by the standards department of the British Board of Trade and the Bureau International that was a better approximation, and this figure, rounded to was given legal status by an Order in Council
An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...
in May 1898.
In 1959, based on further measurements and international coordination, the International Yard and Pound Agreement defined an "international pound" as being equivalent to exactly .[ This meant that the existing legal definition of the UK pound differed from the international standard pound by . To remedy this, the pound was again redefined in the United Kingdom by the Weights and Measures Act 1963 to match the international pound, stating: "the pound shall be 0.453 592 37 kilogramme exactly",] a definition which remains valid to the present day.
The 2019 revision of the SI
In 2019, four of the seven SI base units specified in the International System of Quantities were redefined in terms of natural physical constants, rather than human artefacts such as the standard kilogram.
Effective 20 May 2019, the 144th ...
means that the pound is now defined precisely in terms of fundamental constants, ending the era of its definition in terms of physical prototypes.
Troy pound
A troy pound (abbreviated lb t) is equal to 12 troy ounces and to 5,760 grains, that is exactly grams. Troy weights were used in England by jewellers. Apothecaries also used the troy pound and ounce, but added the drachms and scruples unit in the apothecaries' system of weights.
Troy weight
Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 ...
may take its name from the French market town of Troyes
Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...
in France where English merchants traded at least as early as the early 9th century. The troy pound is no longer in general use or a legal unit for trade (it was abolished in the United Kingdom on 6 January 1879 by the Weights and Measures Act 1878), but the troy ounce, of a troy pound, is still used for measurements of gems such as opals, and precious metals such as silver, platinum and particularly gold.
Tower pound
A tower pound is equal to 12 tower ounces and to 5,400 troy grains, which equals around 350 grams. The tower pound is the historical weight standard that was used for England's coinage. Before the Norman conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
in 1066, the tower pound was known as the Saxon pound. During the reign of King Offa (757–96) of Mercia
Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...
, a Saxon pound of silver was used to set the original weight of a pound sterling
Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency general ...
. From one Saxon pound of silver (that is a tower pound) the king had 240 silver pennies minted. In the pound sterling monetary system, twelve pennies equaled a shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...
and twenty shillings equaled a pound sterling.
The tower pound was referenced to a standard prototype found in the Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
. The tower system ran concurrently with the avoirdupois and troy systems until the reign of Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
, when a royal proclamation dated 1526 required that the troy pound be used for mint purposes instead of the tower pound. No standards of the tower pound are known to have survived.
The tower pound was also called the moneyers' pound (referring to the Saxon moneyer
A moneyer is a private individual who is officially permitted to mint money. Usually the rights to coin money are bestowed as a concession by a state or government. Moneyers have a long tradition, dating back at least to ancient Greece. They bec ...
s before the Norman conquest); the easterling pound, which may refer to traders of eastern Germany, or to traders on the shore of the eastern Baltic sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
, or dealers of Asiatic goods who settled at the London Steelyard wharf; and the Rochelle pound by French writers, because it was also in use at La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...
. An almost identical weight was employed by the Germans for weighing gold and silver.
The mercantile pound (1304) of 6750 troy grains, or 9600 Tower grains, derives from this pound, as 25 shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...
-weights or 15 Tower ounces, for general commercial use. Multiple pounds based on the same ounce were quite common. In much of Europe, the apothecaries' and commercial pounds were different numbers of the same ounce.
Merchants' pound
The merchants' pound (''mercantile pound'', , or ''commercial pound'') was considered to be composed of 25 rather than 20 Tower shillings of 12 pence.[. & & ] It was equal to 9,600 wheat grains (15 tower ounces or 6,750 grains) and was used in England until the 14th century for goods other than money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...
and medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
(" electuaries").[
]
London pound
The London pound is that of the Hansa, as used in their various trading places. The London pound is based on 16 ounces, each ounce divided as the tower ounce. It never became a legal standard in England; the use of this pound waxed and waned with the influence of the Hansa itself.
A London pound was equal to 7,200 troy grains (16 troy ounces) or, equivalently, 10,240 tower grains (16 tower ounces).
In the United States
In the United States, the avoirdupois pound as a unit of mass has been officially defined in terms of the kilogram since the Mendenhall Order of 1893. That order defined the pound to be pounds to a kilogram. The following year, this relationship was refined as pounds to a kilogram, following a determination of the British pound.
In 1959, the United States National Bureau of Standards redefined the pound (avoirdupois) to be exactly equal to 0.453 592 37 kilograms, as had been declared by the International Yard and Pound Agreement of that year. According to a 1959 NIST
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...
publication, the United States 1894 pound differed from the international pound by approximately one part in 10 million. The difference is so insignificant that it can be ignored for almost all practical purposes.
Byzantine litra
The Byzantines used a series of measurements known as pounds (, ). The most common was the (, "pound of account"), established by Constantine the Great
Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...
in 309/310. It formed the basis of the Byzantine monetary system
A monetary system is a system where a government manages money in a country's economy. Modern monetary systems usually consist of the national treasury, the mint, the central banks and commercial banks.
Commodity money system
A commodity mon ...
, with one of gold equivalent to 72 . A hundred were known as a (, "hundredweight"). Its weight seems to have decreased gradually from the original to . Due to its association with gold, it was also known as the (, "gold pound") or (, "maritime pound"), but it could also be used as a measure of land, equalling a fortieth of the .
The was specifically used for weighing olive oil or wood, and corresponded to 4/5 of the or . Some outlying regions, especially in later times, adopted various local measures, based on Italian, Arab or Turkish measures. The most important of these was the (, "silver pound") of , found in Trebizond and Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, and probably of Arab origin.
French livre
Since the Middle Ages, various pounds () have been used in France. Since the 19th century, a has referred to the '' metric pound'', 500 g.
The is equivalent to about and was used between the late 9th century and the mid-14th century.
The or is equivalent to about and was used between the 1350s and the late 18th century. It was introduced by the government of John II.
The was set equal to the kilogram by the decree of between 1800 and 1812. This was a form of official metric pound.
The (customary unit) was defined as by the decree of 28 March 1812. It was abolished as a unit of mass effective 1 January 1840 by a decree of 4 July 1837, but is still used informally.
German and Austrian Pfund
Originally derived from the Roman libra, the definition varied throughout the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
in the Middle Ages and onward. For example, the measures and weights of the Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
were reformed in 1761 by Empress Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...
of Austria. The unusually heavy Habsburg (civil) pound of 16 ounces was later defined in terms of . Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
n reforms in 1809 and 1811 adopted essentially the same standard as the Austrian pound. In Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
, a reform in 1816 defined a uniform civil pound in terms of the Prussian foot and distilled water, resulting in a Prussian pound of .
Between 1803 and 1815, all German regions west of the River Rhine were under French control, organised in the departement
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the Regions of France, administrative regions a ...
s: Roer, Sarre, Rhin-et-Moselle, and Mont-Tonnerre. As a result of the Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...
, these regions again became part of various German states. However, many of these regions retained the metric system and adopted a metric pound of precisely . In 1854, the pound of 500 g also became the official mass standard of the German Customs Union and was renamed the , but local pounds continued to co-exist with the pound for some time in some German states. Nowadays, the term is sometimes still in use and universally refers to a pound of 500 g.
Russian
The Russian pound (, ) is an obsolete Russian unit of measurement of mass. It is equal to . In 1899, the was the basic unit of weight, and all other units of weight were formed from it; in particular, a was of a funt, and a was 40 .
The was a Scandinavian measurement that varied in weight between regions. From the 17th century onward, it was equal to in Sweden but was abandoned in 1889 when Sweden switched to the metric system.
In Norway, the same name was used for a weight of . In Denmark, it equaled .
In the 19th century, Denmark followed Germany's lead and redefined the pound as .
Portuguese and
The Portuguese unit that corresponds to the pounds of different nations is the , equivalent to 16 ounces of , a variant of the Cologne standard. This was introduced in 1499 by Manuel I, king of Portugal
This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portugal, Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution.
Thro ...
. Based on an evaluation of bronze nesting weight piles distributed by Manuel I to different towns, the of Manuel I has been estimated to be of . In the early 19th century, the was evaluated at .
In the 15th century, the was of 14 ounces of or . The Portuguese was the same as 2 . There were also of 12.5 and 13 ounces and of 15 and 16 ounces. The or standard was also used.
Jersey pound
A Jersey pound is an obsolete unit of mass used on the island of Jersey
Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
from the 14th century to the 19th century. It was equivalent to about 7,561 grains (). It may have been derived from the French livre poids de marc.
Trone pound
The trone pound is one of a number of obsolete Scottish units of measurement. It was equivalent to between 21 and 28 avoirdupois ounces (about ).
Metric pound
In many countries, upon the introduction of a metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...
, the pound (or its translation) became an historic and obsolete term, although some have kept it as an informal term without a specific value. In German, the term is , in French , in Dutch , in Spanish and Portuguese , in Italian , and in Danish and Swedish .
Though not from the same linguistic origin, the Chinese (, also known as the " catty") in mainland China
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
has a modern definition of exactly , divided into 10 (). Traditionally around , the has been in use for more than two thousand years varying in exact value from one period to another, serving the same purpose as "pound" for the common-use measure of weight. In Hong Kong, for the purposes of commerce and trade between Britain and Imperial China in the preceding centuries, three Chinese catties were equivalent to four British imperial pounds, defining one catty as in weight precisely.
Hundreds of older pounds were replaced in this way. Examples of the older pounds are one of around in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America; one of in Norway; and several different ones in what is now Germany.
From the introduction of the kilogram scales and measuring devices are denominated only in gram
The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one thousandth of a kilogram.
Originally defined in 1795 as "the absolute Mass versus weight, weight of a volume ...
s and kilogram
The kilogram (also spelled kilogramme) is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand grams. It has the unit symbol kg. The word "kilogram" is formed from the combination of the metric prefix kilo- (m ...
s. A pound of product must be determined by weighing the product in grams as the use of the ''pound'' is not sanctioned for trade within the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
.
Use in weaponry
Smoothbore cannon and carronade
A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the last quarter of the 18th century to the mid-19th cen ...
s are currently designated by the weight in imperial pounds of round solid iron shot of diameter to fit the barrel. A cannon that fires a six-pound ball, for example, is called a ''six-pounder''. Standard sizes are 6, 12, 18, 24, 32, and 42 pounds; 60-pounders and 68-pounders also exist, along with other nonstandard weapons using the same scheme. Before the introduction of the metric system, countries that produced their own artillery generally used their national pound for these designations. See carronade
A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the last quarter of the 18th century to the mid-19th cen ...
.
A similar definition, using lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
balls, exists for determining the gauge of shotguns and shotgun shells.
See also
* Pound-force
The pound of force or pound-force (symbol: lbf, sometimes lbf,) is a unit of force used in some systems of measurement, including English Engineering units and the foot–pound–second system.
Pound-force should not be confused with poun ...
* Slug (unit)
Notes
References
External links
Conversion between units
U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 811
National Institute of Standards and Technology Handbook 130
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pound
Customary units of measurement in the United States
Imperial units
Units of mass
Metricated units