November 12, 2007, 12:46
zmježdapples and oranges
Latin
uncia 'ounce' is a great word. Besides yielding both English
inch and
ounce, there were twelve
unciæ to the
libra 'pound'. There were specific names for all multiples of the
uncia (some are coin names, others simply weights): i.e.,
uncia (1 oz),
sescuncia (1.5 oz),
semis (2 oz),
triens (3 oz),
quadrans (4 oz),
quincunx (5 oz),
sextans (6 oz),
septunx (7 oz),
bes (8 oz, also literally, 'two-thirds'),
dodrans (9 oz),
dextans (10 oz),
deunx (11 oz), and
as (12 oz).
November 12, 2007, 20:08
KallehWow, I hadn't heard of most of those words. I have vaguely heard of
quincunx, but that's about it. Some of them, like
bes and
as, don't even sound vaguely familiar!
We do have a product in healthcare,
Dextran, but I doubt that it's related to
dextans.