ounce

Where does the word "ounce" come from? It comes from Latin uncia, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).

Ounce’s story begins in Latin: uncia meant “a twelfth part.” A twelfth part, the root of both the ounce and the inch. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as unce. Carried into French as a small unit of weight. It reached English by 1300s as ounce. Settled as the English word for a small unit of weight. Today, ounce means a unit of weight equal to one sixteenth of a pound.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient uncia "a twelfth part", a twelfth part, the root of both the ounce and the inch.
2. Stage 2 · Old French · medieval unce "a small unit of weight", carried into French as a small unit of weight.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1300s ounce "a small unit of weight, a sixteenth of a pound", settled as the English word for a small unit of weight.