Nothing political here, I am talking about metrication. Those of you of a certain age will recall the days before metres and litres when measurements may have been a little more complicated but were certainly more fun.
Being of a certain age I recall the initial confusion from February 1971, when the pound sterling ceased being divided into 240 pennies but now only had a hundred. I've often thought it would be fun to change these values annually, where the pound is divided into smaller denominations. Perhaps reintroduce the shilling but this time there will be 17 shillings to the pound and 31 pennies in a shilling. Prime numbers are far more interesting.
If this seems rather odd, cast your mind back to the days when our exercise books had a series of tables on the reverse telling us how many pecks were in a bushel and other imperial measurements the younger generations may never have heard of. Each of these seeming oddities has a beginning and therefore a meaning. There are so many it is impossible to work all of them but here are a selection and taken in alphabetical order.
Acre is probably one of the better known imperial measurements. It is commom to many languages and originates in the Proto-Indo-European root agro which simply meant 'field' and not used as a measurement in the modern sense until the 13th century.
Bar, as a unit of pressure, comes from the Greek baros 'heavy' and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gwere 'weight'.
Bushel, a measure of volume for dry goods, came to English from Old French. Of much more interest is where the French got the term, for it is derived from Gaulish bosta 'palm of the hand', a term still seen in the Irish bass and Breton boz 'hollow of the hand'.
Chain is most often associated with the length of a cricket pitch - 22 yards - and was named because it was measured by using an actual chain. Yet it began with surveying land, the length conveniently being one-tenth of a furlong and any field measuring one furlong in length (220 yards) and a chain in breadth (22 yards) has an area of 4,840 square yards or one acre. It is also still used in identifying any given point on a length of railway track, it seen expressed in miles and chains, and also in distances quoted in horse racing.
Dram comes from the Greek drakhma 'measure of weight' and originally simply meant 'handful'.
Foot holds no surprises, it has always been said to be the length of a man's foot - meaning the measurement varied with the size of the person's feet. As a body part the word dates from Proto-Indo-European (and probably earlier) when ped meant 'foot'.
Furlong is derived from the Germanic furh lang 'the long furrow', and clearly originated through ploughing. Although the mile is the basic measurement of distance today, until Elizabethan times the furlong was the standard and so much so the mile was redefined to make it equal to eight furlongs.
Gallon comes from galleta meaning 'bucket, pail' but also used to refer to 'a measure of wine'.
Grain is clearly related to the same word being used to describe the seed of cereals, and that is exactly what the Proto-Indo-European gre no meant.
Hour predates the clock and can be traced to Proto-Indo-European yor-a meaning 'year' and 'season' and understood as 'point of time'.
Inch is derived from the Latin unus 'one', used in the sense 'a small amount' before becoming a unit of length.
Mile comes from the Latin for 'one thousand' and refers to the number of paces. Now although the mile was rather shorter than the modern 1,760 yards (see furlong), it would still seem a good stride to walk 1,600 yards in a thousand paces. That does not mean the Romans were giants or had impressive inside leg measurements, it is simply the Roman 'pace' would be seen as two paces by us.
Minute has two pronunciations - as a sixtieth of an hour and to refer to something small. Originally the former meaning was the only one used and this became the name of the part of the hour, ie a small or minute part of the hour (see second).
Month takes its name from the moon.
Ounce, as with 'inch' can be traced to Latin unus 'one'. What is not well known is the 'ounce' has not only been a measurement of weight but also of time (about 7.1/2 seconds) and length (3 inches).
Peck is another used to refer to volume of dry goods, particularly associated with oats. It is thought to be a variation on 'pick' and used in the sense of 'allowance'.
Perch was a linear measurement of 5.1/2 yards and marked out using such a stick or pole, the reason why it takes the name - this is the French version, also seen in the Old English 'rod' and 'pole' and even 'yard'.
Pint has the same origin as 'paint', for early vessels marked the liquid volume equal to a pint with a painted line.
Quart, or two pints, is also a quater of a gallon and the latter is where the name originates.
Second, as in a sixtieth of a minute, was originally secunda minuta and, as seen in 'minute' above, this was also a 'small part' of an hour but the 'second small part'. Thus as the minute was originally as in 'diminuntive' and the first part of an hour, this measure of time was spoken of as 'the one after the first'.
Ton shares an origin with 'tun', a large cask of wine or beer - most often seen today in the many pubs known as the Three Tuns (symbolising the guilds of brewers and vintners). Thus the weight 'ton' began as a volume 'tun'.
Week is thought to be related to the Old Norse vika, which had the original meaning of 'a turning'. Thus as 'month' is from 'moon', perhaps the four distinct phases of the moon are referred to as 'changes' or 'weeks'.
Year is so old it is impossible to know for certain, the annual cycle clearly not only known to the ancients but what they lived their entire lives by. With similar forms common to many early languages, the root ei with a sense of 'that which makes (grows, produces)' seems likely.
Showing posts with label weight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight. Show all posts
Sunday, 12 March 2017
Sunday, 2 October 2016
All That Glisters ......
Elements isolated and identified in the comparatively modern era are, most often, named quite logically. However those known to the ancients were known for very different reasons, albeit they had no concept of the idea of an element in a scientific sense. The earliest isolated elements were metals and named for what they saw and, as we shall see, they saw yhings in a rather different light.
Cadmium is a bluish-white metal discovered in 1871 by the German Friedrich Strohmeyer. It is borrowed from the Modern Latin cadmia, with the addition of the metallic suffix ‘-ium’, and itself used by the ancient naturalists for every earth and oxide they found. It comes from the Greek kadmeia meaning ‘earth’ and a name derived from the legendary founder of Boeotian Thebes ‘Cadmus’ and known as such as cadmium was first found in the area around Thebes.
Caesium is a rare alkaline metal, hence the suffix ‘-ium’, discovered and named in 1861 by scientists Bunsen and Kirchhoff. It was named from the Latin caesius meaning ‘blue-grey’ for the spectrum showing the presence of caesium is identified, and indeed was discovered, by two prominent blue lines.
Calcium and another metallic ‘-ium’ coined by Sir Humphrey Davy, this coined in 1808. He borrowed the first syllable from the Latin calx meaning ‘limestone’, this also the origin of the word ‘chalk’.
Aluminium is a an abundant metal and one which epitomises the quote from George Bernard Shaw when he said “Two nations divided by a common language”, for the name ‘aluminium’ is used on the eastern shores of the Atlantic, while on the western side the name is ‘aluminum’. The difference may be but one letter yet with the emphasis is on differing syllables it makes the two names sound very different. In Britain many find the American version difficult to accept and yet (sorry Britain) when first isolated by Sir Humphrey Davy in 1808, he did refer to it as ‘aluminum’. However four years later he changed his mind, with a little encouragement from fellow scientists, and added the ‘i’ to make it ‘aluminium’. This made sense as the suffix ‘-ium’ is used for other metallic elements and thus the British version (sorry America) makes more sense. To further complicate matters Davy’s original name was ‘alumium’. All three names come from the aluminium oxide, known by the Latin alumen, and derived from ‘alum’, itself defined as ‘a whitish mineral salt used as an astringent and a dye’. Alum comes from Old French alum and Latin alumen literally meaning ‘bitter salt’ and associated with the Greek aludoimos and thus amazingly having a common root with ‘ale’.
Barium is another metallic element known since ancient times, albeit only as it was present in the mineral barytes. Not until Sir Humphrey Davy isolated barium in 1808 was it named, although clearly this is derived from the mineral where ‘barytes’ comes from the Greek for ‘heavy spar’. The Greek barys or ‘heavy’ can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European gwere also meaning ‘heavy’ – the latter also the root of the word ‘grave’ - used as an adjective, not a noun.
Chromium isolated in 1807 by Fourcroy and Hauy it was named from the French chrome, itself from the Greek chroma meaning ‘colour’ and aptly, for the compounds are often identified by their colours.
Nickel was identified and named in 1754 by Swedish mineralogist Axel von Cronstedt, an abbreviation of Swedish kopparnickel literally meaning ‘copper-coloured ore’. The Swedes translated this from the German Kupfernickel or ‘copper demon’, so-called as its colour suggested copper yet contained none. Here the alternative name for the devil himself, Old Nick, has a common origin.
Platinum was named by the Spanish, it comes from platina referring to ‘sheet of metal’. As it was thought to resemble silver the Spaniards thought it simply inferior silver, hence the name.
Magnesium here the metallic suffix ‘-ium’ follows the ‘magnesia’, itself the Greek referring to the ‘loadstone’. Here it gets its name from Magnesia, a region of Thessaly inhabited by the Magnetes people whose name has never been explained. What we do know is the metal shares an etymology with ‘magnet’.
Lead comes from the Germanic loudhorn and related to Lot meaning ‘weight’. Earlier usage is unclear, although it seems likely to have referred to ‘weight’ or ‘density’ in some respect.
Tin is from the Proto-Germanic tinom but here the trail ceases and this word is unknown outside the Germanic family. Early references, such as Pliny’s plumbum album or ‘white lead’, are due to the mistaken belief tin was nothing more than silver tainted with lead.
Zinc has been known for millennia, the name derived from the Germanic zint ‘prong, point’ and referring to the pointed shape of the crystals after smelting. Here we can trace the word back to Proto-Indo-European denk meaning ‘to bite’
Mercury is famously the fluid metal, also one of the seven metals known to the ancients as the bodies terrestrial and linked to astrology and alchemy. The Greek name of hydrargyros means ‘liquid silver’ and has also given us the chemical symbol Hg.
Gold has been known since prehistory, the term coming to English from Proto-Germanic ghl-to and derived from the Proto-Indo-European ghel ‘to shine’ – the same root as ‘glass’.
Silver, like gold, has been known since prehistory and can be traced through Germanic languages to somewhere around Asia Minor where Akkadian sarpu meant ‘silver’, coming from sarapu ‘to refine, smelt’.
Copper would have been one of the earliest mined metals and, as a word, it comes to English from the Proto-Germanic kupar. Ultimately this can be traced to the Latin cuprum, itself from Greek Kyprios meaning ‘Cyprus’ as it had been originally mined on that island. Note the original Latin for ‘copper’ had been aes but this was soon used for the alloy with tin ‘bronze’, eventually coming to English as ‘ore’.
Iron is another of ancient origins, coming to English through Celtic isarnon and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European isero meaning ‘powerful’ and also used in the sense of ‘holy’.
Cadmium is a bluish-white metal discovered in 1871 by the German Friedrich Strohmeyer. It is borrowed from the Modern Latin cadmia, with the addition of the metallic suffix ‘-ium’, and itself used by the ancient naturalists for every earth and oxide they found. It comes from the Greek kadmeia meaning ‘earth’ and a name derived from the legendary founder of Boeotian Thebes ‘Cadmus’ and known as such as cadmium was first found in the area around Thebes.
Caesium is a rare alkaline metal, hence the suffix ‘-ium’, discovered and named in 1861 by scientists Bunsen and Kirchhoff. It was named from the Latin caesius meaning ‘blue-grey’ for the spectrum showing the presence of caesium is identified, and indeed was discovered, by two prominent blue lines.
Calcium and another metallic ‘-ium’ coined by Sir Humphrey Davy, this coined in 1808. He borrowed the first syllable from the Latin calx meaning ‘limestone’, this also the origin of the word ‘chalk’.
Aluminium is a an abundant metal and one which epitomises the quote from George Bernard Shaw when he said “Two nations divided by a common language”, for the name ‘aluminium’ is used on the eastern shores of the Atlantic, while on the western side the name is ‘aluminum’. The difference may be but one letter yet with the emphasis is on differing syllables it makes the two names sound very different. In Britain many find the American version difficult to accept and yet (sorry Britain) when first isolated by Sir Humphrey Davy in 1808, he did refer to it as ‘aluminum’. However four years later he changed his mind, with a little encouragement from fellow scientists, and added the ‘i’ to make it ‘aluminium’. This made sense as the suffix ‘-ium’ is used for other metallic elements and thus the British version (sorry America) makes more sense. To further complicate matters Davy’s original name was ‘alumium’. All three names come from the aluminium oxide, known by the Latin alumen, and derived from ‘alum’, itself defined as ‘a whitish mineral salt used as an astringent and a dye’. Alum comes from Old French alum and Latin alumen literally meaning ‘bitter salt’ and associated with the Greek aludoimos and thus amazingly having a common root with ‘ale’.
Barium is another metallic element known since ancient times, albeit only as it was present in the mineral barytes. Not until Sir Humphrey Davy isolated barium in 1808 was it named, although clearly this is derived from the mineral where ‘barytes’ comes from the Greek for ‘heavy spar’. The Greek barys or ‘heavy’ can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European gwere also meaning ‘heavy’ – the latter also the root of the word ‘grave’ - used as an adjective, not a noun.
Chromium isolated in 1807 by Fourcroy and Hauy it was named from the French chrome, itself from the Greek chroma meaning ‘colour’ and aptly, for the compounds are often identified by their colours.
Nickel was identified and named in 1754 by Swedish mineralogist Axel von Cronstedt, an abbreviation of Swedish kopparnickel literally meaning ‘copper-coloured ore’. The Swedes translated this from the German Kupfernickel or ‘copper demon’, so-called as its colour suggested copper yet contained none. Here the alternative name for the devil himself, Old Nick, has a common origin.
Platinum was named by the Spanish, it comes from platina referring to ‘sheet of metal’. As it was thought to resemble silver the Spaniards thought it simply inferior silver, hence the name.
Magnesium here the metallic suffix ‘-ium’ follows the ‘magnesia’, itself the Greek referring to the ‘loadstone’. Here it gets its name from Magnesia, a region of Thessaly inhabited by the Magnetes people whose name has never been explained. What we do know is the metal shares an etymology with ‘magnet’.
Lead comes from the Germanic loudhorn and related to Lot meaning ‘weight’. Earlier usage is unclear, although it seems likely to have referred to ‘weight’ or ‘density’ in some respect.
Tin is from the Proto-Germanic tinom but here the trail ceases and this word is unknown outside the Germanic family. Early references, such as Pliny’s plumbum album or ‘white lead’, are due to the mistaken belief tin was nothing more than silver tainted with lead.
Zinc has been known for millennia, the name derived from the Germanic zint ‘prong, point’ and referring to the pointed shape of the crystals after smelting. Here we can trace the word back to Proto-Indo-European denk meaning ‘to bite’
Mercury is famously the fluid metal, also one of the seven metals known to the ancients as the bodies terrestrial and linked to astrology and alchemy. The Greek name of hydrargyros means ‘liquid silver’ and has also given us the chemical symbol Hg.
Gold has been known since prehistory, the term coming to English from Proto-Germanic ghl-to and derived from the Proto-Indo-European ghel ‘to shine’ – the same root as ‘glass’.
Silver, like gold, has been known since prehistory and can be traced through Germanic languages to somewhere around Asia Minor where Akkadian sarpu meant ‘silver’, coming from sarapu ‘to refine, smelt’.
Copper would have been one of the earliest mined metals and, as a word, it comes to English from the Proto-Germanic kupar. Ultimately this can be traced to the Latin cuprum, itself from Greek Kyprios meaning ‘Cyprus’ as it had been originally mined on that island. Note the original Latin for ‘copper’ had been aes but this was soon used for the alloy with tin ‘bronze’, eventually coming to English as ‘ore’.
Iron is another of ancient origins, coming to English through Celtic isarnon and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European isero meaning ‘powerful’ and also used in the sense of ‘holy’.
Sunday, 9 March 2014
Imperialisms
The butcher – I still use an independent outlet, none of this pre-packed supermarket stuff for me – asked why I always ask for cooked meats in grams but use pounds when ordering joints of meat, bacon, sausage, etc. It happened when we officially went metric, I knew what went in the oven or recipe in pounds and ounces (so I never looked at them) but cooked meats were always priced in grams and so ordered in grams. I suppose I could have ordered in slices but as there is no measurement as the ‘slice’ I refuse to speak of such things.
When it comes to measurement the metric system speaks for itself, it was the whole reason it was created in the first place. This is not true of older imperial measurements, created over centuries and changing depending on what is being measured – volumes of liquids and dry goods may use the same name but do not assume these would be of equal dimensions. I am (just about) old enough to recall those old exercise books at school with the tables on the back – so may ounces in a pound, inches to a foot, pecks to a bushel, and the rest. I soon started wondering where all these imperial names came from and, following a little research, came up with the following.
Linear measurement is still probably the best known. It will take some time for us to stop measuring our height in feet and inches, and even if we use metres for most other things we still use miles to measure distance in the car. (Never could understand the notion of measuring distance in hours, makes no sense unless everyone travelled everywhere at one regulation speed.)
Inch – is from the Latin uncial or one-twelfth of and for obvious reasons. It is first recorded in English in the early 7th century. Interestingly in most other languages the name for this imperial measurement is the same or similar to the word for the ‘thumb’.
Foot – first seen in Britain under the Romans, in the 1st century AD the foot was equal to 11.65 inches. After the Romans had departed the Saxons arrived and their foot was set at 13.2 inches. The difference was in the use, the Roman foot was used in construction while the Saxon foot was solely for the land. The modern foot was set at the end of the thirteenth century. When it comes to the etymology of the word ‘foot’ it is generally accepted this comes from that part of the body, although as the measurement would always be longer than the body part it may be an early loan word for the boot or shoe.
Yard – a word derived from the Saxon or Old English for a straight branch.
Chain – while seen as an ancient measurement it was unknown prior to 1620 when one Edmund Gunter produced a chain of 100 links measuring 66 feet in length. He called it Gunter’s Chain, it was used for land measurements, and soon became known as simply a ‘chain’. The 100th part of a chain, corresponding to one link in Gunter’s Chain, became the length known as the ‘link’ but this never seemd to be popular.
Furlong – equal to ten chains or 220 yards, the original ‘far long’ was the maximum distance which could be ploughed in a straight furrow but not given a specific length.
Mile – began as a Roman measurement but the Roman mile was significantly shorter than the modern 1,760 as it equated to ‘one thousand paces’ or 1,617 yards. This does not mean the Romans had extremely long legs, simply a Roman pace was two steps. It comes from the Latin word millia meaning ‘thousand’.
League – equal to three miles it is rather surprising to find it is neither officially recognized nor used anywhere in the world today. Its origin seems to have been the distance one person could travel on foot in one hour. Although some will argue it is a marine measurement, for it is the distance of three nautical miles and how far one person can see level can see to the horizon (assuming they are approximately six feet tall). The latter seems coincidental rather than the basis for the measurement. The word itself comes from Latin, although as it was originally the leuga gallica the measurement was already in use in Gaul when the Romans arrived.
Fathom - as we have mentioned nautical measurements, this seems the right time to touch on this measurement of depth equal to six feet. It comes from a word meaning ‘embracing arms’ or ‘pair of outstretched arms’ which were seen as roughly six feet.
Rod – was an actual straight rod as opposed to the links in the chain, there being four rods in a chain.
Perch – the same length as a rod but usually seen when measuring area. It comes as little surprise to find this is from the French perche meaning ‘rod’.
Rood – a measurement of area equal to one rod wide and one furlong in length where, to confuse matters further, it comes from an Old English word for ‘pole, rod’.
Acre – still used as a measure of land comes from a root meaning ‘open land’.
Pint – still the favourite measurement of volume in the United Kingdom, it arrived in Britain through the French pinte and Latin picta meaning ‘painted’, this the line showing where level of the measurement.
Quart – is two pints or a quarter of a gallon, which is where the name comes from.
Gallon – stories of this coming from the French for ‘bowl’ are, at best, half true as there were references to this measurement from an earlier time and likely both share a common root.
Ounce – shares an origin with ‘inch’ in meaning one-twelfth.
Pound – from the Latin libra pondo ‘a pound weight’ and the reason it is abbreviated to ‘lb’.
Stone – the simplest to see as a reference to actual stones being used to determine weight.
Hundredweight – another simple name for it is roughly one hundred pounds.
Ton – comes from tun, the largest size of barrel.
When it comes to measurement the metric system speaks for itself, it was the whole reason it was created in the first place. This is not true of older imperial measurements, created over centuries and changing depending on what is being measured – volumes of liquids and dry goods may use the same name but do not assume these would be of equal dimensions. I am (just about) old enough to recall those old exercise books at school with the tables on the back – so may ounces in a pound, inches to a foot, pecks to a bushel, and the rest. I soon started wondering where all these imperial names came from and, following a little research, came up with the following.
Linear measurement is still probably the best known. It will take some time for us to stop measuring our height in feet and inches, and even if we use metres for most other things we still use miles to measure distance in the car. (Never could understand the notion of measuring distance in hours, makes no sense unless everyone travelled everywhere at one regulation speed.)
Inch – is from the Latin uncial or one-twelfth of and for obvious reasons. It is first recorded in English in the early 7th century. Interestingly in most other languages the name for this imperial measurement is the same or similar to the word for the ‘thumb’.
Foot – first seen in Britain under the Romans, in the 1st century AD the foot was equal to 11.65 inches. After the Romans had departed the Saxons arrived and their foot was set at 13.2 inches. The difference was in the use, the Roman foot was used in construction while the Saxon foot was solely for the land. The modern foot was set at the end of the thirteenth century. When it comes to the etymology of the word ‘foot’ it is generally accepted this comes from that part of the body, although as the measurement would always be longer than the body part it may be an early loan word for the boot or shoe.
Yard – a word derived from the Saxon or Old English for a straight branch.
Chain – while seen as an ancient measurement it was unknown prior to 1620 when one Edmund Gunter produced a chain of 100 links measuring 66 feet in length. He called it Gunter’s Chain, it was used for land measurements, and soon became known as simply a ‘chain’. The 100th part of a chain, corresponding to one link in Gunter’s Chain, became the length known as the ‘link’ but this never seemd to be popular.
Furlong – equal to ten chains or 220 yards, the original ‘far long’ was the maximum distance which could be ploughed in a straight furrow but not given a specific length.
Mile – began as a Roman measurement but the Roman mile was significantly shorter than the modern 1,760 as it equated to ‘one thousand paces’ or 1,617 yards. This does not mean the Romans had extremely long legs, simply a Roman pace was two steps. It comes from the Latin word millia meaning ‘thousand’.
League – equal to three miles it is rather surprising to find it is neither officially recognized nor used anywhere in the world today. Its origin seems to have been the distance one person could travel on foot in one hour. Although some will argue it is a marine measurement, for it is the distance of three nautical miles and how far one person can see level can see to the horizon (assuming they are approximately six feet tall). The latter seems coincidental rather than the basis for the measurement. The word itself comes from Latin, although as it was originally the leuga gallica the measurement was already in use in Gaul when the Romans arrived.
Fathom - as we have mentioned nautical measurements, this seems the right time to touch on this measurement of depth equal to six feet. It comes from a word meaning ‘embracing arms’ or ‘pair of outstretched arms’ which were seen as roughly six feet.
Rod – was an actual straight rod as opposed to the links in the chain, there being four rods in a chain.
Perch – the same length as a rod but usually seen when measuring area. It comes as little surprise to find this is from the French perche meaning ‘rod’.
Rood – a measurement of area equal to one rod wide and one furlong in length where, to confuse matters further, it comes from an Old English word for ‘pole, rod’.
Acre – still used as a measure of land comes from a root meaning ‘open land’.
Pint – still the favourite measurement of volume in the United Kingdom, it arrived in Britain through the French pinte and Latin picta meaning ‘painted’, this the line showing where level of the measurement.
Quart – is two pints or a quarter of a gallon, which is where the name comes from.
Gallon – stories of this coming from the French for ‘bowl’ are, at best, half true as there were references to this measurement from an earlier time and likely both share a common root.
Ounce – shares an origin with ‘inch’ in meaning one-twelfth.
Pound – from the Latin libra pondo ‘a pound weight’ and the reason it is abbreviated to ‘lb’.
Stone – the simplest to see as a reference to actual stones being used to determine weight.
Hundredweight – another simple name for it is roughly one hundred pounds.
Ton – comes from tun, the largest size of barrel.
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