ounce
/aʊns/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.80 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An avoirdupois ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₆ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams.
noun
A troy ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₂ of a troy pound, or 480 grains, or 31.1034768 grams.
noun
A US fluid ounce, with a volume of ¹⁄₁₆ of a US pint, 1.804688 cubic inches or 29.5735295625 millilitres.
noun
A British imperial fluid ounce, with a volume of ¹⁄₂₀ of an imperial pint, 1.733871 cubic inches or 28.4130625 millilitres.
noun
noun
noun
Synonym of onza, a particularly aggressive cougar or jaguarundi in Mexican folklore.
Example Sentences
- "He didn't feel even an ounce of regret for his actions."
- "The Ounce or the vvilde Cat, is as big as a mungrell dog, this creature is by nature feirce, and more dangerous to bee met vvithall than any other creature, not fearing eyther dogge or man; […]"
- "Halloa! another prey, The nimble Antelope! The ounce is freed; one spring, And his talons are sheath’d in her shoulders, And his teeth are red in her gore."
- "The ounce, a leopard-like creature, is dreaded for its depredations by the Indians of Brazil."
Etymology
From Middle English ounce, unce, from Middle French once, from Latin ū̆ncia (“Roman ounce, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”). Doublet of a, one, inch, uncia, onça, onza, oka, ouguiya, and awqiyyah.