Post History
Isn't lībra pondō redundant? It feels pleonastic and tautological — because both lībra and pondō meant "weight" — see below. Wikipedia translates lībra pondō as "("the weight measured in libr...
Question
Latin
#15: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-31T21:49:45Z (over 2 years ago)
Isn't _lībra pondō_ [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))??? Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).- ### Etymology of *libra*
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) wrote that *libra*
- >[originally meant ‘stone’, thence ‘pound weight’ (i.e., the little stone you put on scales to weigh things), thence ‘pound’ (the weight of one of those stones), and only from that was the meaning generalised to mean ‘weight’ in general.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269)
- [Tim Lymington wrote that _librum_ meant "'weight' as an abstract concept."](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
## But what do these quotations below mean? I don't understand how they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- Isn't _lībra pondō_ [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric)? It feels [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)) — because both lībra and pondō meant "weight" — see below.
- Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) wrote that *libra*
- >[originally meant ‘stone’, thence ‘pound weight’ (i.e., the little stone you put on scales to weigh things), thence ‘pound’ (the weight of one of those stones), and only from that was the meaning generalised to mean ‘weight’ in general.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269)
- [Tim Lymington wrote that _librum_ meant "'weight' as an abstract concept."](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ## How do these quotations below distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- In my research, I stumbled these quotations below. But what do they mean? Are they relevant?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
#14: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-31T07:06:44Z (over 2 years ago)
- Isn't _lībra pondō_ [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))??? Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) wrote that *libra*
>[originally meant ‘stone’, thence ‘pound weight’ (i.e., the little stone you put on scales to weigh things), thence ‘pound’ (the weight of one of those stones), and only from that was the meaning generalised to mean ‘weight’ in general.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269).- [Tim Lymington wrote that _librum_ meant "'weight' as an abstract concept."](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ## But what do these quotations below mean? I don't understand how they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- Isn't _lībra pondō_ [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))??? Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) wrote that *libra*
- >[originally meant ‘stone’, thence ‘pound weight’ (i.e., the little stone you put on scales to weigh things), thence ‘pound’ (the weight of one of those stones), and only from that was the meaning generalised to mean ‘weight’ in general.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269)
- [Tim Lymington wrote that _librum_ meant "'weight' as an abstract concept."](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ## But what do these quotations below mean? I don't understand how they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
#13: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-31T07:05:17Z (over 2 years ago)
- Isn't _lībra pondō_ [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))??? Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) wrote that *libra*
- >[originally meant ‘stone’, thence ‘pound weight’ (i.e., the little stone you put on scales to weigh things), thence ‘pound’ (the weight of one of those stones), and only from that was the meaning generalised to mean ‘weight’ in general.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269).
- [Tim Lymington wrote that _librum_ meant "'weight' as an abstract concept."](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
## But what do the quotations below mean? How do other people distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- Isn't _lībra pondō_ [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))??? Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) wrote that *libra*
- >[originally meant ‘stone’, thence ‘pound weight’ (i.e., the little stone you put on scales to weigh things), thence ‘pound’ (the weight of one of those stones), and only from that was the meaning generalised to mean ‘weight’ in general.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269).
- [Tim Lymington wrote that _librum_ meant "'weight' as an abstract concept."](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ## But what do these quotations below mean? I don't understand how they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
#12: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-31T06:58:18Z (over 2 years ago)
Isn't lībra pondō circumlocutory?
- Isn't lībra pondō circumlocutory? Because both lībra and pondō meant "weight"?
_lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)). Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).[Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)### Etymology of *pondō*["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)### Etymology of *libra*- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- ## But what do the quotations below mean? How do other people distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- Isn't _lībra pondō_ [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))??? Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) wrote that *libra*
- >[originally meant ‘stone’, thence ‘pound weight’ (i.e., the little stone you put on scales to weigh things), thence ‘pound’ (the weight of one of those stones), and only from that was the meaning generalised to mean ‘weight’ in general.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269).
- [Tim Lymington wrote that _librum_ meant "'weight' as an abstract concept."](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ## But what do the quotations below mean? How do other people distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
#11: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-31T00:08:36Z (over 2 years ago)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)). Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
## But what do the quotations below mean? How do other people distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*? I don't grok any of them.- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)). Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- ## But what do the quotations below mean? How do other people distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
#10: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-30T23:56:13Z (over 2 years ago)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)). Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
### But what do the quotations below mean? How do other people distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*? I don't grok any of them.- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)). Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- ## But what do the quotations below mean? How do other people distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*? I don't grok any of them.
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
#9: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-30T23:55:57Z (over 2 years ago)
_lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)### I don't grok other people's distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). **But what do the quotations below all mean? How do they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?**["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)>[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)>>Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)). Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word *pondo* is the ablative singular of the Latin noun *pondus* ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology).
- [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- ### But what do the quotations below mean? How do other people distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*? I don't grok any of them.
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
#8: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-30T17:23:28Z (over 2 years ago)
_lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)Do you see why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))?- ### I don't grok other people's distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). **But what do the quotations below all mean? How do they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?**
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric), [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- ### I don't grok other people's distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). **But what do the quotations below all mean? How do they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?**
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
#7: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-24T00:24:08Z (over 2 years ago)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- Do you see why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))?
- ### I don't grok other people's distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). But what do the quotations below all mean? How do they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- Do you see why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))?
- ### I don't grok other people's distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). **But what do the quotations below all mean? How do they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?**
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
#6: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-24T00:15:13Z (over 2 years ago)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- Do you see why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))?
## I don't grok other people's distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?- Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). But what do the quotations below all mean? How do they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- Do you see why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))?
- ### I don't grok other people's distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). But what do the quotations below all mean? How do they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
#5: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-24T00:10:56Z (over 2 years ago)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- Do you see why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))?
- ## I don't grok other people's distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). But what do the quotations below all mean? How do they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
[It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_.](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- Do you see why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))?
- ## I don't grok other people's distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). But what do the quotations below all mean? How do they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- ["It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_."](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
#4: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-24T00:10:40Z (over 2 years ago)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
I trust I expatiated why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)).## I don't grok other people's allegated distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). But what do the quotations below all mean?- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- [It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_.](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- Do you see why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language))?
- ## I don't grok other people's distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). But what do the quotations below all mean? How do they distinguish *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- [It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_.](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
#3: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-24T00:07:43Z (over 2 years ago)
Isn't lībra pondō circumlocutory? Redundant?
- Isn't lībra pondō circumlocutory?
#2: Post edited
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-24T00:06:37Z (over 2 years ago)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- I trust I expatiated why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)).
- ## I don't grok other people's allegated distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). What do the quotations below all mean?- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
### pondō- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
### libra- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- [It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_.](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
- _lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
- I trust I expatiated why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)).
- ## I don't grok other people's allegated distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
- Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). But what do the quotations below all mean?
- ["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
- >[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
- >
- >Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
- ### Etymology of *pondō*
- ["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
- ### Etymology of *libra*
- ["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
- [It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_.](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)
#1: Initial revision
by
PSTH
·
2022-07-24T00:05:41Z (over 2 years ago)
Isn't lībra pondō circumlocutory? Redundant?
_lībra pondō_ feels [redundant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)#Rhetoric). [Janus Bahs Jacquet](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269) [wrote that originally, *libra* meant 'stone' and *pondus* meant weight. But then *libra* semantically generalized to mean "weight" too!](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121269). [Tim Lymington wrote the same thing for *libra*.](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/121270)
I trust I expatiated why _lībra pondō_ appears [pleonastic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm) and [tautological](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tautology_(language)).
## I don't grok other people's allegated distinction between *lībra* vs. *pondō*?
Wikipedia translates _lībra pondō_ as ["("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)#Etymology). What do the quotations below all mean?
["It makes more sense if you explain that "**l**i**b**ra", which meant "balance" is the actual word that came to mean the unit of weight. The "pondo" part precised the weight. "](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/26ksv0/til_the_latin_phrase_libra_pondo_was_used_in/chs46y9/)
>[“a pound by weight” as opposed to a pound by what other measure?](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9a81nt/why_is_pounds_abbreviated_as_lbs/e4ts1le/)
>
>Edit: why the downvotes? Turns out there’s a mass pound as well as a weight pound, plus the English currency Pound.
### pondō
["*pondo* in Latin is the ablative of *pondus*, which is literally 'weight' (ablative being 'by weight')."](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d3z71e/til_that_pounds_are_abbreviated_to_lbs_because_it/f065749/)
### libra
["You will also know *Libra* as the astrological sign, the seventh sign of the zodiac. In classical times that name was given to rather an uninspiring constellation, with no particularly bright stars in it. It was thought to represent scales or a balance, the main sense of *libra* in Latin, which is why it is often accompanied by the image of a pair of scales."](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pou1.htm)
[It's from Latin *libra*, an ancient Roman unit of weight, likely from Proto-Italic _*liθra_.](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/32evcd/why_do_we_abbreviate_pound_as_lb_when_it_contains/cqaknt2/)