uncia

See also:Unciaanduncía

English

Etymology

FromLatinuncia(“various Romanunits”),ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*óynos(“one”).Doubletofa,one,ounce,inch,onça,onza,oka,ouguiya,andawqiyyah.

Pronunciation

• (General American,Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/ˈʌnʃi.ə/

Noun

uncia(pluralunciasorunciae)

1. (historical)TheRomanounce,1/12 of aRomanpound.[1685]
2. (historical)TheRomaninch,1/12 of aRomanfoot.
3. (historical)Abronzecoinmintedby theRoman Republic,1/12 of anas.
4. (historical)ARomanunitoflandarea,1/12 of ajugerum.
5. (pharmacy)Synonym ofounce,theEnglishandAmericanavoirdupoisunitofmass.
6. Synonym oftwelfth.
7. (algebra,obsolete)Anumericalcoefficientin abinomial.

Latin

Latin numbers^(edit)

← 11	XII 12	13 →[a],[b]
Cardinal:duodecim Ordinal:duodecimus Adverbial:duodeciēs,duodeciēns Proportional:duodecuplus,duodecemplus,duodecimplus Multiplier:duodecuplex,duodecimplex,duodecemplex Distributive:duodēnus Fractional:ū̆ncia

Etymology 1

Ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*óynos(“one”)in the sense of twelfths making up the base unit of various ancient systems of measurement.Doubletofūnus( “one” ) and sometimes said to derive directly from it, possibly in the sense of the individual units together composing the whole. Possibly related touncus(“hook,curved”)andunguis(“claw”)from the practice of counting to 12 using the thumb and knuckles of the right hand.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin)IPA^(key):/ˈuːn.ki.a/,[ˈuːŋkiä]orIPA^(key):/ˈun.ki.a/,[ˈʊŋkiä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)IPA^(key):/ˈun.t͡ʃi.a/,[ˈun̠ʲt͡ʃiä]

It is uncertain whether long or short U occurred inū̆nciaand in its compounds ending in-ū̆nx,-ū̆ncis.The etymologically related wordūnushas long ū, and Bennett (1907) marks long ū inūncia, quīncūnx, quīncūnxis.However, originally long vowels could be shortened in Latin before consonant clusters starting inresonantconsonants such as [ŋ] (this shortening can be referred to as "Osthoff's Law",which is the name of a similar sound change that occurred in Greek).A Latin formŭnciawith a short vowel is represented by Frenchonce,Italianoncia,Spanishonzaamong others.

Noun

ū̆nciaf(genitiveū̆nciae);first declension

1. (historical)uncia,a coin of the Roman Republic equal to 1/12 as
2. (historical)uncia,a unit of length equal to 1/12 of the Roman foot
3. inch,similar units in other measurement systems
4. (figurative)inch,an insignificantly small length
5. (historical)uncia,a unit of mass equal to 1/12 of the Roman pound
6. ounce,similar units in other measurement systems
7. (figurative)ounce,bit,trifle,an insignificantly small amount
8. (historical)uncia,a unit of area equal to 1/12 of the jugerum
9. twelfth,1/12 of any amount or unit

Declension

First-declensionnoun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ū̆ncia	ū̆nciae
Genitive	ū̆nciae	ū̆nciārum
Dative	ū̆nciae	ū̆nciīs
Accusative	ū̆nciam	ū̆nciās
Ablative	ū̆nciā	ū̆nciīs
Vocative	ū̆ncia	ū̆nciae

Derived terms

• terū̆ncius
• deū̆nx
• quincū̆nx
• septū̆nx

Descendants

• Catalan:unça
• Friulian:once
• Italian:oncia
• Norman:onche
• Occitan:onça
• Old French:unce
  • Middle French:once,unce
    • French:once
    • →Middle English:unce,ounce
      • English:ounce
    • →Irish:unsa
  • →Middle Armenian:ունծայ(uncay)(or from some other medieval European language)
• Portuguese:onça,úncia
• Romanian:uncie
• Romansch:onza,untscha,unza,uonscha
• Sicilian:oncia,uncia
• Spanish:onza,uncia
• Venetian:onsa,onza,onzha,onça
• →English:uncia
• →Proto-West Germanic:*unciju(see there for further descendants)
• →Gothic:𐌿𐌽𐌺𐌾𐌰(unkja)
• →Ancient Greek:οὐγγία(oungía),οὐγκία(ounkía),ὀγκία(onkía)
  • Greek:ουγγιά(oungiá),ουγκιά(ougkiá)
  • →Aramaic:
    • Classical Syriac:ܐܘܢܩܝܐ(ʾūnqīyā),ܢܘܩܝܐ(nūqyā)
      • →Arabic:أوقية(ʔūqiyya)(see there for further descendants)
      • →Old Armenian:նուկի(nuki)
        • Armenian:նուկի(nuki)
    • →Old Armenian:ունկի(unki)
      • →Georgian:უნკი(unḳi)
• →Old Irish:ungae(see there for further descendants)
• →Polish:uncja
• →Russian:у́нция(úncija)(see there for further descendants)

Etymology 2

FromMiddle Frenchonce(“lynx,wildcat”)under influence fromonce(Latinuncia,“ounce”), from false division ofOld Frenchlonce(“lynx”)mistaking its initiallfor the articlel',fromVulgar Latin*lunceapossibly viaItalianlonza,fromLatinlynx,fromAncient Greekλύγξ(lúnx,“lynx”).First used in reference to the snow leopard byJohann Christian Daniel von Schreberin 1777 asFelisuncia.

Noun

unciaf(genitiveunciae);first declension

1. (New Latin)snow leopard

Declension

First-declensionnoun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	uncia	unciae
Genitive	unciae	unciārum
Dative	unciae	unciīs
Accusative	unciam	unciās
Ablative	unciā	unciīs
Vocative	uncia	unciae

Descendants

• Translingual:Uncia

Further reading

• “uncia”,inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879)A Latin Dictionary,Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “uncia”,inCharlton T. Lewis (1891)An Elementary Latin Dictionary,New York: Harper & Brothers
• unciainGaffiot, Félix (1934)Dictionnaire illustré latin-français,Hachette.
• “uncia”,inHarry Thurston Peck, editor (1898),Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities,New York: Harper & Brothers
• “uncia”,inWilliam Smith et al., editor (1890),A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities,London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay(1977) “ունկի”,inHayerēn armatakan baṙaran[Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume III, Yerevan: University Press,page603a