2002-03-14
Does this help?
pound (lb, lbm, or #) [1]
a traditional unit of mass or weight. The Romans used a pound (the libra
pondo, "pound of weight") divided into 12 ounces. All the countries
of western Europe used similar units, divided into 12 or 16 ounces, until the
advent of the metric system. 12-ounce pounds were common in Italy and southern
France, but in Spain and northern Europe 16-ounce pounds became the norm. The
word libra is
used for this unit in Italy, Spain, and Portugal; in France it is called the livre. Further
north, the Latin word pondo ("weight") is the origin of the names of the
English pound, Dutch pond, Danish pund, German pfund, and Russian funt. In
England, two different "pound" units became standard. The unit now in general
use in the United States is the avoirdupois pound, so-called
from a French phrase avoir du poids, literally "goods of weight,"
indicating simply that the goods were being sold by weight rather than by volume
or by the piece. The avoirdupois pound is divided into 16 ounces. By
international agreement, one avoirdupois pound is equal to exactly 453.592 37
grams; this is exactly 175/144 = 1.215 28 troy pounds. See avoirdupois
weights for additional information. The traditional symbol lb stands
for libra, the Latin word for the unit. The avoirdupois pound is
sometimes abbreviated lb av or lb ap to distinguish it from the
less common troy pound.The symbol lbm is used in science to distinguish
the pound of mass from the pound of force (lbf): see pound force, below.
pound (lb t or lb or #) [2]
a second traditional unit of mass or weight. The troy
pound, named for the French market town of Troyes, was the unit used in
England by apothecaries and jewelers. The troy pound is divided into 12 ounces like the
Roman pound. One troy pound is 373.242 grams, or exactly 144/175 = 0.822 858
avoirdupois pounds (13.165 72 avoirdupois ounces). The troy and avoirdupois
pounds are connected by the grain: there are
5760 grains in a troy pound and 7000 grains in an avoirdupois pound. See troy weights for
additional information. The troy pound should be abbreviated lb. t. to
distinguish it from the more common avoirdupois pound.
John
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, 2002-03-14 09:26
Subject: [USMA:18751] Root for "lb"
> 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.
>
>
Much thanks, as always,
>
> Jim McCracken
>
