Ounce
Ounce (ouns) , noun
[French once, from Latin uncia a twelfth, the twelfth part of a pound or of a foot: compare Greek 'o`gkos bulk, mass, atom. Compare 2d Inch, Oke.]
1.
A unit of mass or weight, the sixteenth part of a pound avoirdupois, and containing 28.35 grams or 437½ grains.
2.
(Troy Weight) The twelfth part of a troy pound; one troy ounce weighs 31.103486 grams, 8 drams, or 480 grains.
The troy ounce contains twenty pennyweights, each of twenty-four grains, or, in all, 480 grains, and is the twelfth part of the troy pound. The troy ounce is also a weight in apothecaries' weight.
3.
Figuratively: A small portion; a bit. [Obsolete]
By ounces hung his locks that he had.
Collocations (1)
Fluid ounce , See under Fluid, n.
Ounce , noun
[French once; compare Italian lonza, Sp. onza; prob. for lonce, taken as l'once, from Latin lynx, Greek {not transcribed}, or an (assumed) fem. adj. lyncea, from lynx. Compare Lynx.]
(Zoology) A feline quadruped (Felis irbis syn. Felis uncia) resembling the leopard in size, and somewhat in color, but it has longer and thicker fur, which forms a short mane on the back. The ounce is pale yellowish gray, with irregular dark spots on the neck and limbs, and dark rings on the body. It inhabits the lofty mountain ranges of Asia. Called also once.