ounce

¹

[ouns]

noun

1. a unit of weight equal to 437.5 grains or 1/16 pound (28.35 grams) avoirdupois.

2. a unit of 480 grains, 1/12 pound (31.1 grams) troy or apothecaries' weight.

3. a fluid ounce.

4. a small quantity or portion.

ounce

²

[ouns]

noun

1. snow leopard.

ounce

¹

/ aʊns /

noun

1. oz. a unit of weight equal to one sixteenth of a pound (avoirdupois); 1 ounce is equal to 437.5 grains or 28.349 grams

2. a unit of weight equal to one twelfth of a Troy or Apothecaries' pound; 1 ounce is equal to 480 grains or 31.103 grams

3. short for fluid ounce

4. a small portion or amount

ounce

²

/ aʊns /

noun

1. another name for snow leopard

ounce

1. A unit of weight in the US Customary System equal to 1/16 of a pound or 437.5 grains (28.35 grams).

2. See Table at measurement

3. See fluid ounce

Word History and Origins

Origin of ounce¹

1350–1400; Middle English unce < Middle French < Latin uncia twelfth part, inch, ounce, derivative of unus one

Origin of ounce²

1300–50; Middle English unce lynx < Anglo-French; Old French once, variant of lonce (erroneously taken as l'once the ounce) < Vulgar Latin *luncea, derivative of Latin lync- (stem of lynx ) lynx

Word History and Origins

Origin of ounce¹

C14: from Old French unce, from Latin uncia a twelfth; from ūnus one

Origin of ounce²

C18: from Old French once, by mistaken division of lonce as if l'once, from Latin _lynx

Idioms and Phrases

• more bang for the buck (bounce for the ounce)

Example Sentences

Gold generates no income, so whether it is correctly valued at $4,000 for a troy ounce is impossible to assess.

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Those factors buoyed gold, perhaps the original refuge from market tumult, pushing most-actively traded futures past $3,000 a troy ounce in March for the first time.

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On Wednesday, gold rose further to settle at $4,043.30 a troy ounce.

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A useful way of understanding this, as our friends at the New York Sun might say, is that the dollar’s value now has dropped to 1/4000th of an ounce of gold.

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Elsewhere, gold continued its torrid run, reaching $4,000 a troy ounce for the first time on record.

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