Etymograph

English

ounce

Ounce comes from Middle French once, from Latin ū̆ncia ‘Roman ounce, various similar units’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos ‘one’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*óynos1‘one’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEū̆ncia1‘Roman ounce, various similar units’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600once1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ounce1‘an ounce’
  5. Englishtodayounce1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ounce

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*óynosWiktionary, English ounce‘one’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEū̆nciaWiktionary, English ounce‘Roman ounce, various similar units’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600onceWiktionary, English ounce
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ounceWiktionary, English ounce‘an ounce’
  5. EnglishtodayounceWiktionary, English ounce

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *óynos ‘one’

unity, nullity, 1 more

through Latin ū̆ncia ‘Roman ounce, various similar units’

inch, 4 more

Another origin of ounce

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-‘white’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lú(n)ḱs‘lynx’uncertain
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lúnksuncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλύγξlúnx‘lynx’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElynxuncertain
  6. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*lunceauncertain
  7. Italianc. 1300–presentlonza‘term used in the Middle Ages to describe a type of wild cat, possibly a lynx or leopard’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400lonce‘lynx’
  9. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600once
  10. Englishtodayounce

Today it means

noun An avoirdupois ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₆ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ounce”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *óynos / ounce

Shirt and support for this word