![\"Weighing](\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/blog\/scales.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
How many drams are there in an ounce?<\/p>\n
If you are familiar with the British Imperial System of measurement<\/a>, you might know that there are 16 drams (dr) to an ounce (oz), and 16oz to a pound (lb). <\/p>\n There is an even smaller unit, the grain<\/strong>: there are 27.344 grains to a dram, 437.5 to an ounce, and 7,000 to a pound.<\/p>\n I knew about pounds and ounces, but hadn’t come across drams before, except as a Scottish word for a measure of whisky. Grains are also new to me as a unit of measurement.<\/p>\n When talking about weight, particularly people’s weight, using the imperial system, the stone<\/strong> is used, at least in the UK (1 stone = 14 pounds). For example, you might weigh 9 stone 7 (pounds). In the USA you would say 133 pounds, and in metric it would be 60.3kg. So if you want to weigh less, just give your weight in stones and pounds.<\/p>\n The next unit after the stone is hundredweight<\/strong> (cwt). In the UK a (long) hundredweight = 112 pounds, and in the US a (short) hundredweight = 100 pounds. Then there are 20cwt in a ton, so a UK (long) ton 2,240 pounds (160 stone), and a US (short) ton is 2,000 pounds.<\/p>\n The above are known as avoirdupois<\/strong> measurements. To weigh precious metals, troy<\/strong> units are used: 1 pound = 12 ounces. 1 ounce = 20 pennyweight. 1 pennyweight = 24 grains. Slightly simpler, but still more complex than the metric system.<\/p>\n Avoirdupois<\/strong> comes from the Old French avoir + du + pois<\/em> (good of weight)<\/p>\n Troy<\/strong> comes from Anglo-Norman via the Middle English troye<\/em>, and is possibly named after Troyes<\/a>, a town in France where such weights were first used.<\/p>\n Pound<\/strong> comes from the Old English pund<\/em> (a pound, weight), from the Proto-Germanic *pund\u0105<\/em> (pound, weight), from the Latin pond\u014d<\/em> (by weight), the ablative form of pondus<\/em> (weight), from the Proto-Indo-European *pend-, *spend-<\/em> (to pull, stretch). <\/p>\n Ounce<\/strong> comes from the Middle French once<\/em> (ounce, a little bit), from the Latin uncia<\/em> (1\/12 part), from \u016bnus<\/em> (one).<\/p>\n Dram<\/strong> comes from the Old French dragme<\/em>, from the Late Latin dragma<\/em>, from the Ancient Greek \u03b4\u03c1\u03b1\u03c7\u03bc\u03ae<\/em> (drakhm\u1e17 – unit of weight, a handful), from \u03b4\u03c1\u03ac\u03c3\u03c3\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9<\/em> (dr\u00e1ssomai – I hold, seize).<\/p>\n Source: Wiktionary<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n