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Avoirdupois
Avoirdupois (; abbreviated avdp.) is a measurement system of weights that uses pounds and ounces as units. It was first commonly used in the 13th century AD and was updated in 1959. In 1959, by international agreement, the definitions of the pound and ounce became standardized in countries which use the pound as a unit of mass. The '' International Avoirdupois Pound'' was then created. It is the everyday system of weights used in the United States. It is still used, in varying degrees, in everyday life in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and some other former British colonies, despite their official adoption of the metric system. The avoirdupois weight system's general attributes were originally developed for the international wool trade in the Late Middle Ages, when trade was in recovery. It was historically based on a physical standardized pound or "prototype weight" that could be divided into 16 ounces. There were a number of competing measures of mass, and the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in both the British imperial and United States customary systems of measurement. Various definitions have been used; the most common today is the international avoirdupois pound, which is legally defined as exactly , and which is divided into 16 avoirdupois ounces. The international standard symbol for the avoirdupois pound is lb; an alternative symbol (when there might otherwise be a risk of confusion with the pound-force) is lbm (for most pound definitions), # ( chiefly in the U.S.), and or ̶ (specifically for the apothecaries' pound). The unit is descended from the Roman (hence the symbol ''lb'', descended from the scribal abbreviation, '). The English word ''pound'' comes from the Roman ('the weight measured in '), and is cognate with, among others, German , Dutch , and Swedish . These units are now designated as historical and are no longer in common usage, being replaced by the metric system. Usage of the un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ounce
The ounce () is any of several different units of mass, weight, or volume and is derived almost unchanged from the , an Ancient Roman unit of measurement. The avoirdupois ounce (exactly ) is avoirdupois pound; this is the United States customary and British imperial ounce. It is primarily used in the United States. Although the avoirdupois ounce is the mass measure used for most purposes, the ' troy ounce' of exactly is used instead for the mass of precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, etc. The term 'ounce' is also used in other contexts: * The ounce-force is a measure of force (see below). * The fluid ounce is a measure of volume. Historically, a variety of different ounces measuring mass or volume were used in different jurisdictions by different trades and at different times in history. Etymology ''Ounce'' derives from the Ancient Roman (meaning: a twelfth), a unit in the Ancient Roman units of measurement weighing about 27 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weights And Measures Acts (UK)
Weights and Measures Acts are acts of the British Parliament determining the regulation of weights and measures. It also refers to similar royal and parliamentary acts of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland and the medieval Welsh states. The earliest of these were originally untitled but were given descriptive glosses or titles based upon the monarch under whose reign they were promulgated. Several omnibus modern acts have the short title " Weights and Measures Act" and are distinguished by the year of their enactment. Background There have been many laws concerned with weights and measures in the United Kingdom or parts of it over the last 1,000 or so years. The acts may catalogue lawful weights and measures, prescribe the mechanism for inspection and enforcement of the use of such weights and measures and may set out circumstances under which they may be amended. Modern legislation may, in addition to specific requirements, set out circumstances under which the incumbe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Yard And Pound
The international yard and pound are two units of measurement that were the subject of an agreement among representatives of six nations signed on 1 July 1959: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. The agreement defined the yard as exactly and the avoirdupois pound as exactly . History In October 1834, the British Houses of Parliament were destroyed in a fire. Among the items lost were the objects that defined the imperial standards of length and mass. New prototypes were subsequently created to replace the items lost in the fire, among them a new "yardstick" ruler in 1855, and with it a new formal definition of the yard. Two copies of the ruler were subsequently presented to the United States, which in turn adopted the measure for the United States national standard yard. In 1866, the U.S. Congress passed a law that allowed, but did not require, the use of the metric system in trade and commerce. Included in the law was a tab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kilogram
The kilogram (also spelled kilogramme) is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand grams. It has the unit symbol kg. The word "kilogram" is formed from the combination of the metric prefix kilo- (meaning one thousand) and gram; it is colloquially shortened to "kilo" (plural "kilos"). The kilogram is an SI base unit, defined ultimately in terms of three defining constants of the SI, namely a specific transition frequency of the caesium-133 atom, the speed of light, and the Planck constant. A properly equipped metrology laboratory can calibrate a mass measurement instrument such as a Kibble balance as a primary standard for the kilogram mass. The kilogram was originally defined in 1795 during the French Revolution as the mass of one litre of water (originally at 0 °C, later changed to the temperature of its maximum density, approximately 4 °C). The current definition of a kilogram agrees with this original defini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troy Weight
Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and the troy pound (12 troy ounces). The troy grain is equal to the grain unit of the avoirdupois system, but the troy ounce is heavier than the avoirdupois ounce, and the troy pound is lighter than the avoirdupois pound. Legally, one troy ounce (oz t) equals exactly 31.1034768 grams. Etymology Troy weight is generally supposed to take its name from the French market town of Troyes where English merchants traded at least as early as the early 9th century. The name ''troy'' is first attested in 1390, describing the weight of a platter, in an account of the travels in Europe of the Earl of Derby. Charles Moore Watson (1844–1916) proposes an alternative etymology: ''The Assize of Weights and Measures'' (also known a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Orthography
French orthography encompasses the spelling and punctuation of the French language. It is based on a combination of phonemic and historical principles. The spelling of words is largely based on the pronunciation of Old French –1200 AD, and has stayed more or less the same since then, despite enormous changes to the pronunciation of the language in the intervening years. Even in the late 17th century, with the publication of the Dictionnaire de l'Académie française">first French dictionary by the Académie française, there were attempts to reform French orthography. This has resulted in a complicated relationship between spelling and sound, especially for vowels; a multitude of silent letters; and many homophones, e.g. ''/////'' (all pronounced ) and ''//'' (all pronounced ). This is conspicuous in verbs: ' (you speak), ' (I speak / one speaks) and ' (they speak) all sound like . Later attempts to respell some words in accordance with their Latin etymologies further increased ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Language
Norman or Norman French (, , Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a ''Langues d'oïl, langue d'oïl'' spoken in the historical region, historical and Cultural area, cultural region of Normandy. The name "Norman French" is sometimes also used to describe the administrative languages of ''Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman'' and ''Law French'' used in England. For the most part, the written forms of Norman and modern French are mutually intelligible. The thirteenth-century philosopher Roger Bacon was the first to distinguish it along with other dialects such as Picard language, Picard and Burgundian language (Oïl), Bourguignon. Today, although it does not enjoy any official status outside of Jersey, some reports of the French Ministry of Culture (France), Ministry of Culture have recognized it as one of the regional languages of France. History When Norsemen, Norse Vikings from modern day Scandinavia arrived in Neustria, in the western part of the then Kingdom of the Franks, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard French
Standard French (in French: , , or ) is an unofficial term for a standard variety of the French language. It is a set of spoken and written formal varieties used by the educated francophones of several nations around the world. As French is a pluricentric language, Standard French encompasses various linguistic norms (consisting of prescribed usage). The syntax, morphology, and orthography of Standard French are explained in various works on grammar and style such as the ', a reference summary of verb conjugations first compiled in the 19th century by Louis-Nicolas Bescherelle from France, and ' written in the 20th century by Belgian grammarian Maurice Grevisse. In France, Standard French is based on the pronunciation and vocabulary used in the formal registers of French in Metropolitan France. In Quebec, it is more often called "International French" or " Radio Canada French" because of decades of a foreign European pronunciation that dominated both news and cultural ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention. Key historical trends of the High Middle Ages include the medieval demography, rapidly increasing population of Europe, which brought about great social and political change from the preceding era, and the Renaissance of the 12th century, including the first developments of rural exodus and urbanization. By 1350, the robust population increase had greatly benefited the European economy, which had reached levels that would not be seen again in some areas until the 19th century. That trend faltered in the early 14th century, as the result of numerous events which together comprised the crisis of the late Middle Ages—most notable among them being the Black Death, in addition to various regional wars and economic stagnation. From , Europ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
