Why is “pounds” shortened to “lbs”

[watsup]

Must be a British thing.
Yes, I know I could look it up, but I’ll bet that there are a bunch of others who don’t know either.

 

[soap box]

Must be a British thing.
Yes, I know I could look it up, but I’ll bet that there are a bunch of others who don’t know either.

The word in Spanish is libra but I'm not looking it up either.

 

[Callen]

Beats me.......guess that's why we went metric!

 

[NWRatCon]

The word in Spanish is libra but I'm not looking it up either.

It's from the Latin, if I recall. It wasn't originally "pounds", either. That's a mis-scribe/spelling,

Now I have to look, dammit!

 

[Rexedgar]

LB Sand!

 

[NWRatCon]

Seems I was mostly correct: "The unit is descended from the Roman libra (hence the symbol lb, descended from the scribal abbreviation, ℔). The English word pound comes from the Roman libra pondo ('the weight measured in libra'), and is cognate with, among others, German Pfund, Dutch pond, and Swedish pund."

 

[NWRatCon]

LB Sand!

That's one way of measuring it...

 

[OrphanSlug]

"This is why we cannot have nice things." I'll just leave that right there.

 

[NWRatCon]

This is fun... the root is the same for "ponder", as in, "I wonder why “pounds” is shortened to “lbs” "?

 

[NWRatCon]

I could afford to Libre a few ponds.

 

[Bok Tuklo]

"There's a little kicking."

 

[Jessie C]

Seems I was mostly correct: "The unit is descended from the Roman libra (hence the symbol lb, descended from the scribal abbreviation, ℔). The English word pound comes from the Roman libra pondo ('the weight measured in libra'), and is cognate with, among others, German Pfund, Dutch pond, and Swedish pund."

I had to look it up too, and you are correct, sir!


"Lbs" is the abbreviation for "pounds" because it comes from the Latin word "libra," which means "pound" or "balance," essentially tracing the origin of the unit of measurement back to ancient Rome where "libra pondo" was used to signify a "pound by weight.".

 

[Safiel]

The Roman word for lead is Plumbum, meaning soft metal, which is why Pb is the abbreviation for lead.

The Roman word for gold is Aurum, meaning shining dawn, which is why Au is the abbreviation for gold.

Probably millions of other examples.

 

[NWRatCon]

The Roman word for lead is Plumbum, meaning soft metal, which is why Pb is the abbreviation for lead.

The Roman word for gold is Aurum, meaning shining dawn, which is why Au is the abbreviation for gold.

Probably millions of other examples.

Millions of pounds, probably.

 

[soap box]

The Roman word for lead is Plumbum, meaning soft metal, which is why Pb is the abbreviation for lead.

The Roman word for gold is Aurum, meaning shining dawn, which is why Au is the abbreviation for gold.

Probably millions of other examples.

Only in the Romance languages, which I tipped off in post #2