Ducentesimum Vicesimum Tertium Latinum Verbum Diei: October 10, 2010

[Christina Wallin]

Theme for this month: Latin hidden in our everyday lives

libra, librae

specifically: lbs.

Definition: A measure of weight containing twelve Roman ounces; a
pound; a pair of scales, balance; the constellation and sign of the
zodiac Libra; elevation, height; the state of being balanced,
equipoise

Sententia: Leges XII Tabularum

...ni suo vivit, qui eum vinctum habebit, libras faris endo dies
dato.
...if he does not live on his own, he that has him in chains, give
pounds (slash a pound?) of grain daily.

The Laws of the 12 Tables, dated to about 450 BC, were the foundation
of the Roman Republic's legal system. Though the original text does
not exist today, we do know some of it through quotations from other
authors.

Yes, indeed, the seemingly random abbreviation “lbs.” for “pounds”
does indeed come from Latin! The journey of this word in general is
quite interesting. These definitions, from the Oxford Latin
Dictionary, are arranged in chronological order. Thus, from the
original meaning of “a measure of weight” (found as early as the Laws
of the 12 Tables, some of the earliest Latin we have!), comes the
meaning of “scales.” The constellation Libra and the zodiac sign also
refer to this meaning of “scales.” Then finally, the word grew to
sometimes have the figurative sense of balanced, that is, “equipoise,”
though the two citations for that in the Oxford Latin Dictionary both
come from Pliny.