picul

[pik-uh l]

noun

(in China and southeast Asia) a weight equal to 100 catties, or from about 133 to about 143 pounds avoirdupois (60–64 kg).

Nearby words

Origin of picul

First recorded in 1580–90, picul is from the Malay word pikull the maximum load a man can carry

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for picul

In one case, some years ago, coffee advanced to $31 a picul, and enormous fortunes were made.
The Philippine Islands|Ramon Reyes Lala
It takes eight cabanes measure (vide p. 276) of fresh-picked ripe berries to turn out one picul weight of clean beans.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
Rice of foreign importation is weighed and quoted by the picul of 133⅓ lbs.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
The picul is here one hundred and thirty-seven pounds, Spanish, or one hundred and forty pounds, English.
Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat|Edmund Roberts

The price of this manure varies with the quality from one dollar to three dollars the picul.
Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume II|Karl Ritter von Scherzer

British Dictionary definitions for picul

picul

noun

a unit of weight, used in China, Japan, and SE Asia, equal to approximately 60 kilograms or 133 pounds

Word Origin for picul

C16: from Malay pīkul a grown man's load

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012