To slightly amplify what c.q. has written, my dictionary's etymology for "pound" derives it from the Latin pondo (pound), akin to pondus (weight) from pendere (to weigh). It would make sense to me that a pound-weight was something hung on one side of a balance (libra), so the word and the symbol (pound, lb) might be of equal and parallel antiquity. Specifically, a weight (piece of stone or metal) designed to hang on one side of a balance might have been labeled as "lb" to indicate that it was intended for that purpose, especially for an unequal arm balance. The O'haus triple-beam centigram balances are provided with such weights. Those weights are clearly labeled with the mass on the pan that would balance them, that is, their representation, and in very fine print their actual masses. I don't have any old literature to date the symbol, though.
Jim cellular qwerty wrote: .... > 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."] .... -- Metric Methods(SM) "Don't be late to metricate!" James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/ 10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
