Yes, but tonne d'eau could be shortened to tonne-eau and shortened even more to tonneau.
Jerry ________________________________ From: Pierre Abbat <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 8:19:16 AM Subject: [USMA:44881] Re: Fw: Re: RE: Metric Act of 1866, was IEEE/ASTM SI-10 On Sunday 26 April 2009 22:35:41 Jeremiah MacGregor wrote: > I wonder if the original meaning of the word tonneau derived from the > words tonne-eau which would mean a "tonne of water", as the word eau in > French means water and a tonneau was a cask or container that held a tonne > of water I doubt it. The French for "tonne of water" is "tonne d'eau". "au" often (but not in "eau") comes from earlier "al", and the Spanish for "tonne" is "tonelada". Pierre
