Unit Names
Unit Names
Here are some unit names and why we use them to designate items.
acre: Old English for tilled land
ampere: Andre Marie Ampere (1775-1836) French physicist
Angstrom: A.J. Angstrom (1814-1874) Swedish physicist
apothecary: pharmacist
are: French word from the Latin word area for space
avoirdupois: Old French for goods of weight (avoir de pois)
bag: A measure of quantity for produce, varying according to the nature of the commodity
bar: Greek baros meaning weight
barleycorn: 12th Century England and Scotland, three barleycorns laid end to end form an inch
barn: unit of nuclear cross section
barye: French word from the Greek barys meaning heavy
bel: Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) American inventor
bucket: Old English for a pitcher
bushel: Middle French word (boissiel)
butt: Middle French word for a wine cask (botte)
calorie: French word from the Latin word calor for heat
candle: prior to 1909, a wax candle was used in light measurements
carat: Middle Latin word from an Arabic word meaning weight of four grains (qirat)
cental: from the Latin word quint meaning one hundred
chaldron: from the Middle French word chauderon
coulomb: Charles A. de Coulomb (1736-1806) French physist
cubit: ancient measure of about 18 to 20 inches
dalton: John Dalton (1766-1844) British physicist who worked with color blindness
drachm: learned spelling of dram
dram: Old French word from a Late Latin word for an ancient silver coin (drachma)
dyne: Greek for power (dynamis)
ell: Old English measurement of about a yard (eln)
em: the letter m as used by a square blocks by printers
erg: Greek word for work (ergon)
farad: Micheal Faraday (1791-1867) British scientist
faraday: Micheal Faraday (1791-1867) British scientist
fathom: Old English word that means outstretched arms (faethm)
fermi: Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) Italian scientist
furlong: Combination of Old English words for furh for furrow or trench and lang for long
gamma: third letter in Greek alphabet
gauss: Karl K. Gauss (1777-1855) German scientist
gilbert: William Gilbert (1540-1603) English scientist
gill: Middle French word for a measure of wine (gile)
gram: French word (gramme) from the Greek word for small weight (gramma)
henry: Joseph Henry (1797-1878) American scientist
horsepower: horse plus power
joule: J.P. Joule (1818-1889) British physicist
lambert: J.H. Lambert (1728-1777) German scientist
last: from several languages, all meaning load
league: Ancient Celtic measurement of about three miles
liter: French word (litre) from the Greek word for a pound (litra)
lumen: Latin word for light or window
lux: Latin word for light
maxwell: James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) Scottish physicist
meter: French word (metre) from the Greek word for measure (metron)
mho: Ohm spelt backwards
micron: from the Greek word mikron meaning small or little
mil: From the Latin word meaning thousand (mille)
mile: Old English word from the Latin word for walking a thousand paces (milia)
millier: French word from the Latin word milliar for thousand
minim: Latin word for smallest (minimus)
minute: Middle Latin for small (minutus)
month: Old English word (monath)
newton: Sir Issac Newton
noggin: small cup or mug
ohm: G.S. Ohm (1787-1854) German physicist
ounce: Middle French word (unce) from a Latin word (uncia)
parsec: Combination of parallax and second
pascal:Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) French mathematician
peck: Old French word (pek)
phot: from Greek word phos for light
pica: Middle Latin collection of church rules in a large font
pint: Middle English (pinte)
poise: Middle French meaning weight (pois)
pottle: Middle English word potel from the Middle French word pot
pound: Old Engish word (pund) from the Latin word for weight (pondus)
quadrant: Latin word for fourth part (quadrans)
quart: Old French for fourth (quarte)
quire: Middle French word (quaer) from a Late Latin word for a set of four sheets (quaternum)
radian: radius minus us plus an
ream: Middle French word (reime) from and Spanish word (rezma)
rood: Old English word (rod)
scruple: Latin word for small pebble (scrupulus)
second: Old French word from the Latin (secundus)
skein: Middle French word for a quantity of thread on a spindle (escaigne)
statute: Latin word for established (statutus)
steradian: stereo minus eo plus radian
stere: French word from the Greek word stere meaning solid
stoke: Sir George Stokes (1819-1903) British physicist
tesla: Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) United States physicist and inventor (born in Crotia)
toise: French word from Late Latin word tesa which was from the Latin word tensa which means outstretched arms
ton: variation of tun
troy: Middle English word troye from the French word troyes where it was a standard
tun: Old English word for a large cask of wine (tunne)
volt: Alessandro Volta (1745-1827) Italian physicist
watt: James Watt (1736-1819) Scottish scientist
weber: Wilhelm Eduard Weber (1804-1891) German physicist
week: Old English (wice)
yard: Old English for a stick (yrde)
year: Old English (gear)
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Last updated 05/17/2020 - E-mail corrections, suggestions, and/or praise to tallsup@anidatech.com