Other forms: ounces
An ounce is a small unit of weight, a sixteenth of a pound. Two ounces of butter, an ounce of gold, not an ounce of sense.
It is about twenty-eight grams. Precious metals use a different one, the troy ounce, which is heavier — so an ounce of gold and an ounce of flour are not the same weight. Not an ounce of something means none at all. Note that the word comes from the Latin for a twelfth.
1nounounceA unit of weight, a sixteenth of a pound.
“The recipe needs eight ounces of flour and two eggs.”
ounce is a unit of weight.
Latin uncia meant a twelfth part. Inch comes from the same word, being a twelfth of a foot.
Proto-Indo-European
*óynos — one
Latin
uncia — Roman ounce, various similar units
Middle French
once
Middle English
ounce
English, today
ounce
From Middle English ounce, unce, from Middle French once, from Latin uncia (“Roman ounce, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European óynos (“one”). a doublet of a and one and inch and uncia and onça and onza and oka and ouguiya and awqiyyah.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA