# ounce
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /aʊns/
* Rhymes: -aʊns
* Audio (UK):(file)

### Etymology 1

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.

#### Noun

ounce (plural ounces)
* An avoirdupois ounce, weighing $^1$⁄$_{16}$ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams.
* A troy ounce, weighing $^1$⁄$_{12}$ of a troy pound, or 480 grains, or 31.1034768 grams.
* A US fluid ounce, with a volume of $^1$⁄$_{16}$ of a US pint, 1.804688 cubic inches or 29.5735295625 millilitres.
* A British imperial fluid ounce, with a volume of $^1$⁄$_{20}$ of an imperial pint, 1.733871 cubic inches or 28.4130625 millilitres.
* (figurative) Any small amount, a little bit.
    He didn't feel even an ounce of regret for his actions.

##### Synonyms

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

##### Derived terms

* 12-ounce curls
* an ounce of prevention is better than an ounce of cure
* an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure
* an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
* bounce to the ounce
* fine ounce
* metric ounce
* metric-ounce
* twelve-ounce curls
* with every ounce of one's being

##### Descendants

* → Tokelauan: aunehe

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

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 and lynx.

#### Noun

ounce (plural ounces)
* (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, volume (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.
* Synonym of snow leopard, Panthera uncia. [from 18th c.]
* (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.

##### Translations
### References

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

### Anagrams

* Cuneo, cuneo-, on cue

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* unce, ownce, ounse, nounce, nowns

### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈuːns(ə)/, /ˈuns(ə)/

### Noun

ounce (plural ounces or ounce)
* An ounce (unit with much variation, but generally equivalent to 1/12 or 1/16 of a pound)
* (rare) A shekel (ancient measure of weight)
* (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 overspraddeBy very little hung the locks that he had; / He draped them over his shoulders
* (rare) An eight-minute unit for measuring time.
* (rare) A three-inch unit for measuring length.

#### Descendants

* English: ounce, unce
* Scots: ounce

#### References

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

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From English ounce. Doublet of inch and unse.

### Noun

ounce m (definite singular ouncen, indefinite plural ouncer, definite plural ouncene)
* an avoirdupois ounce
    Synonym: unse

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From English ounce. Doublet of inch and unse.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /æʉ̯ns/

### Noun

ounce m (definite singular ouncen, indefinite plural ouncar, definite plural ouncane)
* an avoirdupois ounce
    Synonym: unse

### References

* “ounce” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.