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    KMSRyana's Avatar
    KMSRyana Posts: 142, Reputation: 26
    Junior Member
     
    #1

    Jan 28, 2007, 08:45 PM
    Background on the abbreviation for pounds
    Simple question, really. I'm not sure if I'm putting this on the right board, but I figured an engineer or two would probably know the answer. The common english abbreviation for a pound is "lb", is there any specific reason or meaning to why L and B where chosen to abbreviate this word?

    Thanks for your help in advance.
    PunkRockHer's Avatar
    PunkRockHer Posts: 10, Reputation: 1
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    #2

    Jan 28, 2007, 08:47 PM
    The origin is in the Latin word libra, which could mean both balance scales and also a pound weight, for which the full expression was libra pondo, the second word being the origin of our pound.

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