Why is the acronym for pounds lbs

This article originally appeared on Southern Living by Melissa Locker. By Southern Living June 13, Save Pin More. Comments Add Comment. Back to story Comment on this project. Tell us what you think Thanks for adding your feedback. The word libra referred to balance or scales in Roman times and was also part of a unit of measurement known as "libra pondo," which when translated is "pound weight" or "a pound by weight.

To add even more confusion to the matter, Americans use the word "pound" as a measurement for weight, but the British associate it with their currency, which is known as the pound. This is because the original value of what was used for money in Britain was equivalent to a pound of silver. But the Americans and British aren't the only people to take words from the Ancient romans. The Italian word "lira," which was the country's currency from to , also derives from libra.

As does the pound sign today more commonly known as a hashtag , which is a nod to the way medieval scribes wrote the abbreviation "lb. And there you have it! Product Reviews. Most of our abbreviations for units of measurements are pretty straightforward. They are made up of of letters from the words they stand for. So how do we get lb for "pound" and oz for "ounce"? Lb is an abbreviation of the Latin word libra. The primary meaning of libra was balance or scales as in the astrological sign , but it also stood for the ancient Roman unit of measure libra pondo , meaning "a pound by weight.