Etymograph

English

ounce

Ounce comes from Middle French once, from Latin ū̆ncia ‘Roman ounce, various similar units’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos ‘one’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*óynos‘one’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEū̆ncia‘Roman ounce, various similar units’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600once
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ounce‘an ounce’
  5. Englishtodayounce

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*óynos‘one’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEū̆ncia‘Roman ounce, various similar units’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600once
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ounce‘an ounce’
  5. Englishtodayounce

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *óynos ‘one’

unity, nullity, 2 more

through Latin ū̆ncia ‘Roman ounce, various similar units’

inch, 5 more

Another origin of ounce

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-‘white’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lú(n)ḱs‘lynx’uncertain
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lúnksuncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλύγξlúnx‘lynx’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElynxuncertain
  6. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*lunceauncertain
  7. Italianc. 1300–presentlonza‘term used in the Middle Ages to describe a type of wild cat, possibly a lynx or leopard’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400lonce‘lynx’
  9. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600once
  10. Englishtodayounce

Today it means

noun An avoirdupois ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₆ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *óynos / ounce

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