ounce

• IPA^(key): /aʊns/
• Rhymes: -aʊns

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From Middle English ounce, unce, from Middle French once, from Latin uncia (“Roman ounce, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”). Doublet of a, one, inch, uncia, onça, onza, oka, ouguiya, and awqiyyah.

ounce (plural ounces)

1. An avoirdupois ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₆ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams.
2. A troy ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₂ of a troy pound, or 480 grains, or 31.1034768 grams.
3. A US fluid ounce, with a volume of ¹⁄₁₆ of a US pint, 1.804688 cubic inches or 29.5735295625 millilitres.
4. A British imperial fluid ounce, with a volume of ¹⁄₂₀ of an imperial pint, 1.733871 cubic inches or 28.4130625 millilitres.
5. (figurative) Any small amount, a little bit.

   He didn't feel even an ounce of regret for his actions.

• (avoirdupois ounce): oz.; ℥, uncia (pharmacy)
• (fluid ounce): oz., fl. oz.
• (small amount): see also Thesaurus:modicum

• → Arabic: أُونْسَة (ʔūnsa)
• → Tokelauan: aunehe

From Middle French once, from Old French lonce (“lynx”), by false division (the l was thought to be the article), from Italian lonza, ultimately from Ancient Greek λύγξ (lúnx, “lynx”). Doublet of onza.

ounce (plural ounces)

1. (now archaic) A large wild feline, such as a lynx or cougar. [from 14th c.]
   • 1634, William Wood, “Of the Beasts that Live on the Land”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 23:

     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; […]

   • 1801, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC:

     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.

2. Synonym of snow leopard, Panthera uncia. [from 18th c.]
3. (cryptozoology) Synonym of onza, a particularly aggressive cougar or jaguarundi in Mexican folklore.
   • 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 8, page 235:

     The ounce, a leopard-like creature, is dreaded for its depredations by the Indians of Brazil.

• snow leopard on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Uncia uncia on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Uncia uncia on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

• Cuneo, cuneo-, on cue

• unce, ownce, ounse, nounce, nowns

From Middle French once, from Old French once, unce, from Latin uncia. Doublet of ynche.

• IPA^(key): /ˈuːns(ə)/, /ˈuns(ə)/

ounce (plural ounces or ounce)

1. An ounce (unit with much variation, but generally equivalent to 1/12 or 1/16 of a pound)
2. (rare) A shekel (ancient measure of weight)
3. (rare) A minuscule or insignificant amount or quantity.
   • a. 1394, Geoffrey Chaucer, “General Prologue”, in The Canterbury Tales‎, archived from the original on 22 February 2019, lines 677–678:

     By ounces henge his lokkes that he hadde / And therwith he his shuldres overspradde

     By very little hung the locks that he had; / He draped them over his shoulders

4. (rare) An eight-minute unit for measuring time.
5. (rare) A three-inch unit for measuring length.

• English: ounce, unce
• Scots: ounce

• “ǒunce, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-25.

From English ounce. Doublet of inch and unse.

ounce m (definite singular ouncen, indefinite plural ouncer, definite plural ouncene)

1. an avoirdupois ounce

   Synonym: unse

From English ounce. Doublet of inch and unse.

• IPA^(key): /æʉ̯ns/

ounce m (definite singular ouncen, indefinite plural ouncar, definite plural ouncane)

1. an avoirdupois ounce

   Synonym: unse

• “ounce” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.