ounce Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a unit of apothecary weight equal to 480 grains or one twelfth of a pound
apothecaries' ounce; troy ounce.
noun a unit of weight equal to one sixteenth of a pound or 16 drams or 28.349 grams
oz..
noun large feline of upland central Asia having long thick whitish fur
Panthera uncia; snow leopard.

F. once, fr. L. uncia a twelfth, the twelfth part of a pound or of a foot: cf. Gr. bulk, mass, atom. Cf. 2d Inch, Oke.

A weight, the sixteenth part of a pound avoirdupois, and containing 437 grains.
(Troy Weight) The twelfth part of a troy pound. ✍ The troy ounce contains twenty pennyweights, each of twenty-four grains, or, in all, 480 grains, and is the twelfth part of the troy pound. The troy ounce is also a weight in apothecaries' weight. Troy ounce is sometimes written as one word, troyounce.
Fig.: A small portion; a bit. Obs.
By ounces hung his locks that he had. Chaucer.

F. once; cf. It. lonza, Sp. onza; prob. for lonce, taken as l'once, fr. L. lynx, Gr. , or an (assumed) fem. adj. lyncea, from lynx. Cf. Lynx.

(Zoöl.) A feline quadruped (Felis irbis, ∨ uncia) resembling the leopard in size, and somewhat in color, but it has longer and thicker fur, which forms a short mane on the back. The ounce is pale yellowish gray, with irregular dark spots on the neck and limbs, and dark rings on the body. It inhabits the lofty mountain ranges of Asia. Called also once.