English
libra
Libra comes from Portuguese libra ‘English or American pound, a unit of mass…’, and goes back to Latin libra.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElibra‘pound’
- Italianc. 1300–presentsame form‘pound’
- Spanishc. 1500–presentsame form‘English or American pound avoirdupois’
- Portuguesec. 1500–presentsame form‘English or American pound, a unit of mass equal to 454 g’
- Englishtodaysame form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElibra‘pound’
- Italianc. 1300–presentsame form‘pound’
- Spanishc. 1500–presentsame form‘English or American pound avoirdupois’
- Portuguesec. 1500–presentsame form‘English or American pound, a unit of mass equal to 454 g’
- Englishtodaysame form
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *līðrā ‘ingot’
through Latin libra ‘pound’
level, deliberate, equilibrium, deliberation, lira, deliberative, 8 more
Today it means
noun A Roman unit of mass, usually equivalent to 327 g.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin libra / libra