tola

Where does the word "tola" come from? It comes from Sanskrit tula, passing through Hindi before entering English (1833).

Tola’s story begins in Sanskrit: tula meant “weighing, balance.” Meant 'weighing, balance'. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Hindi as tola. Became the name of a traditional unit of weight. It reached English by 1833 as tola. The British fixed the tola at 180 grains in 1833; gold is still sold by the tola in South Asia. Today, tola means a traditional South Asian unit of mass (about 11.7 grams), still used to measure gold and silver.

1. Stage 1 · Sanskrit · ancient tula "weighing, balance", meant 'weighing, balance'.
2. Stage 2 · Hindi · medieval tola "a unit of weight, especially for gold", became the name of a traditional unit of weight.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1833 tola "a South Asian unit of mass, about 11.7 grams, used for gold and silver", the British fixed the tola at 180 grains in 1833; gold is still sold by the tola in South Asia.