picul

[ pik-uhl ]

/ ˈpɪk əl /

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noun

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

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Origin of picul

First recorded in 1580–90; from Malay pikull, the term for the maximum load that a man using a shoulder yoke can carry

Words nearby picul

picturesque, picture tube, picture window, picture writing, picturize, picul, piculet, Picumnus, Picus, PID, piddle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use picul in a sentence

Later, the price was advanced; until about 1900 the government paid fifteen florins per picul for coffee in parchment.
All About Coffee|William H. Ukers
It was purchased by the picul of 133-1/2 pounds, the price varying from eight to ten dollars for the picul.
The Hawaiian Islands|The Department of Foreign Affairs
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
Its price is very high, being 460 taels per picul or chest, while native opium is only 350 taels, including transit dues.
A Vindication of England's Policy with Regard to the Opium Trade|Charles Reginald Haines

In these cases an industrious workman may obtain as much as one picul in a week.
The Former Philippines thru Foreign Eyes|Toms de Comyn

British Dictionary definitions for picul

picul

/ (ˈpɪkəl) /

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