Ounce Meaning
/aʊns/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn avoirdupois ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₆ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams.
nounA troy ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₂ of a troy pound, or 480 grains, or 31.1034768 grams.
Sentence Examples
An ounce of practice is worth a pound of precept.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To measure the gold, the jeweler used a scale and found it weighed one ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The recipe called for exactly one ____ of dark chocolate to be melted into the warm cream.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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; […]"
— 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:
"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."
— 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:
"The ounce, a leopard-like creature, is dreaded for its depredations by the Indians of Brazil."
— 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 8, page 235:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
To measure the gold, the jeweler used a scale and found it weighed one ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The recipe called for exactly one ____ of dark chocolate to be melted into the warm cream.