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ABBREVIATION LB FOR POUND [Q] From Andrea: Why are pounds, when used as a weight, abbreviated lbs? [A] The origin is in the Latin word libra, which could mean both balance scales (hence the symbol for the astrological sign Libra, which was named after a constellation that was thought to resemble scales) and also a pound weight, for which the full expression was libra pondo, the second word being the origin of our pound. |
Page created 3 Oct. 1998
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