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In the original version of the metric system, the base unit of mass was the grave, corresponding to the kilogram. 1/1000 of a grave was a gravet.
by Arcorann 4y ago
In the original version of the metric system, the base unit of mass was the grave, corresponding to the kilogram. 1/1000 of a grave was a gravet.
- eru 4y agoAnd from what I heard, grave sounded to much like 'duke' (in French or German), so the French Revolutionaries weren't too keen on it.
- thaumasiotes 4y agoThe French word for 'duke' would be 'duc' (pronounced more or less identically to the English word, for the obvious reason that the English word is borrowed from French). The German word appears to be Herzog. It's hard to see where either word might be plausibly confused with any possible pronunciation of "grave".
- nitroll 4y agohttps://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_(titre) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_(titre) somewhat equivalent of count or earl
- conformist 4y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graf https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graf
- eru 4y agoYou are right that it wasn't the equivalent of duke. I was being a bit imprecise. Sorry. The better English equivalent to German Graf would have been an earl.