4 ms·
No, "lb." comes from "libra" meaning scales or balance, not "liber". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Roman_libra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound
by spiznnx 10y ago
No, "lb." comes from "libra" meaning scales or balance, not "liber".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Roman_libra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Roman_libra
- umanwizard 10y agoHm, I can't edit my comment anymore, but French wiktionary claims that French "livre" (meaning pound) comes from the Latin word for the measure that weighed about as much as a book. ("livre" also means "book" in French). I guess "lb." and French "livre" (meaning pound) aren't necessarily related. More likely: wiktionary could be full of shit, meaning I was wrong.
- kgwgk 10y agoYou have misunderstood the wiktionary entry: > Du latin lībra (« poids d’une livre ») tells you just that the meaning of the latin word is a measure of weight (a pound). There is no way that can be interpreted as "the weight of a book" (that would be « poids d’un livre »).
- umanwizard 10y agoOh shit! I read it as "un".