Jim McCracken asked in USMA 18751: >I know that this list dislikes my requests for "non-metric" information, >but we have an inquiry about the use of the "lb" for pound. I know from my >knowledge of weights and measures development that the "lb" derived from >the Latin root "libra." However, I have no documents in our library that >trace this use. > >If anyone has some old material the traces this use please reply directly >to me. We don't need a long thread on this that quickly gets off topic.
I have not been able to find anything on this question. I guess that the libra, with abbreviation lb., was introduced to England during the Roman occupation. When the Saxons invaded they changed the name to "pound" without changing the abbreviation. The name is pound, or a variant, in the Teutonic languages (German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish., etc.). In the Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.) the name is still "libra" or a variant. Joseph B.Reid 17 Glebe Road West Toronto M5P 1C8 TEL. 416-486-6071
