ounce

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English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /aʊns/
  • Rhymes: -aʊns
  • Audio (UK)(file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English ounce, unce, from Middle French once, from Latin uncia (“Roman ounce, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”). Doublet of a, one, inch, uncia, onça, onza, oka, ouguiya, and awqiyyah.

Noun

ounce (plural ounces)

  1. An avoirdupois ounce, weighing 1⁄16 of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams.
  2. A troy ounce, weighing 1⁄12 of a troy pound, or 480 grains, or 31.1034768 grams.
  3. A US fluid ounce, with a volume of 1⁄16 of a US pint, 1.804688 cubic inches or 29.5735295625 millilitres.
  4. A British imperial fluid ounce, with a volume of 1⁄20 of an imperial pint, 1.733871 cubic inches or 28.4130625 millilitres.
  5. (figurative) Any small amount, a little bit.
    He didn't feel even an ounce of regret for his actions.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Descendants
  • → Tokelauan: aunehe
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle French once, from Old French lonce (“lynx”), by false division (the l was thought to be the article), from Italian lonza, ultimately from Ancient Greek λύγξ (lúnx, “lynx”). Doublet of onza.

Noun

ounce (plural ounces)

  1. (now archaic) A large wild feline, such as a lynx or cougar.
    • 1634, William Wood, “Of the Beasts that Live on the Land”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; , London: Tho Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, , →OCLC, 1st part, page 23:
      The Ounce or the vvilde Cat, is as big as a mungrell dog, this creature is by nature feirce, and more dangerous to bee met vvithall than any other creature, not fearing eyther dogge or man; […]
    • 1801, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: or T N Longman and O Rees, , by Biggs and Cottle, , →OCLC:
      Halloa! another prey,
      The nimble Antelope!
      The ounce is freed; one spring,
      And his talons are sheath’d in her shoulders,
      And his teeth are red in her gore.
  2. Synonym of snow leopard, Panthera uncia.
  3. (cryptozoology) Synonym of onza, a particularly aggressive cougar or jaguarundi in Mexican folklore.
    • 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 8, page 235:
      The ounce, a leopard-like creature, is dreaded for its depredations by the Indians of Brazil.
Translations

References

Anagrams

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle French once, from Old French once, unce, from Latin uncia. Doublet of ynche.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈuːns(ə)/, /ˈuns(ə)/

Noun

ounce (plural ounces or ounce)

  1. An ounce (unit with much variation, but generally equivalent to 1/12 or 1/16 of a pound)
  2. (rare) A shekel (ancient measure of weight)
  3. (rare) A minuscule or insignificant amount or quantity.
    • a. 1394, Geoffrey Chaucer, “General Prologue”, in The Canterbury Tales‎, archived from the original on 22 February 2019, lines 677–678:
      By ounces henge his lokkes that he hadde / And therwith he his shuldres overspradde
      By very little hung the locks that he had; / He draped them over his shoulders
  4. (rare) An eight-minute unit for measuring time.
  5. (rare) A three-inch unit for measuring length.

Descendants

References

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English ounce. Doublet of inch and unse.

Noun

ounce m (definite singular ouncen, indefinite plural ouncer, definite plural ouncene)

  1. an avoirdupois ounce
    Synonym: unse

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English ounce. Doublet of inch and unse.

Pronunciation

Noun

ounce m (definite singular ouncen, indefinite plural ouncar, definite plural ouncane)

  1. an avoirdupois ounce
    Synonym: unse

References

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia