# ounce

Pronunciation: US say "OWNS" /aʊns/; UK

## Noun

1. A unit of weight equal to one sixteenth of an avoirdupois pound, or about 28.35 grams.
   - Simple: A unit of weight equal to about 28 grams, or one sixteenth of a pound.
   - _Weigh out an ounce of ground coffee for each cup._
   - _The block of cheese weighed nearly twelve ounces._
2. A unit of liquid volume equal to one sixteenth of a US pint, or about 29.57 milliliters.
   - Simple: A unit of liquid volume used in the United States, equal to about 30 milliliters.
   - _The bartender measured one ounce of rum into the shaker._
   - _Each serving contains about six ounces of juice._
3. Any small quantity of something; the least little bit.
   - Simple: A very small amount of something, only a little bit.
   - _He showed not an ounce of mercy toward his rivals._
   - _There isn't an ounce of sense in that plan._
4. A unit of weight equal to one twelfth of a troy pound, or 480 grains, about 31.10 grams.
   - Simple: A unit of weight used for gold and silver, equal to about 31 grams.
   - _The price of an ounce of gold rose sharply this week._
   - _Each bar contained ten ounces of pure silver._
5. A unit of liquid volume equal to one twentieth of an imperial pint, or about 28.41 milliliters.
   - Simple: A unit of liquid volume used in Britain, equal to about 28 milliliters.
   - _In Britain, a pint is divided into twenty ounces rather than sixteen._
   - _He added a single ounce of cream to his afternoon tea._
6. A snow leopard (Panthera uncia), a large pale-furred wild cat of the high mountains of central and southern Asia.
   - Simple: A snow leopard, a large gray wild cat from the high mountains of central Asia.
   - _The ounce melts into the rocks, its pale coat a perfect disguise._
   - _Researchers tracked several ounces across the remote mountain range._
7. An onza, an unusually aggressive cougar or jaguarundi described in Mexican folklore.
   - Simple: A fierce wild cat from Mexican folk stories, said to be an unusually aggressive cougar.
   - _An ounce was said to drag full-grown cattle into the brush._
   - _Few dared cross the hills where an ounce was rumored to hunt._

## Noun

8. Any of several big wild cats, the lynx and the cougar among them. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A large wild cat, such as a lynx or a cougar.
   - _An ounce was blamed for the loss of the farmer's sheep._
   - _Old chronicles tell of ounces roaming the northern forests._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5** — It came through Middle English ounce and Middle French once from Latin uncia (a Roman ounce and various similar units), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *óynos meaning "one." It is a doublet of words like one, inch, and uncia.
**Meanings 6–8** — It came from Middle French once, from Old French lonce ("lynx"), created by false division when the l was mistaken for the article. This traces back through Italian lonza to Ancient Greek λύγξ (lúnx, "lynx"), and is a doublet of lynx.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ounce (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).