Why is lb the abbreviation for pound?

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Why is lb the abbreviation for pound?

Pound is the standard measure for mass. Most commonly used in the international units of measure, pound is an expression of a unit in relation to mass or weight. Having a variety, one pound is legally defined as and is exactly equivalent to 0.453 592 37 kilograms. However, pounds are variedly applied in different time zones at diverse countries all over the world. Of the many definitions, some identified were British pounds, Roman libra, French livre, German and Austrian Pfund, Russian funt, Jersey pound, Trone pound and Metric pound. For most countries, the most commonly used definition of pound is that of the Metric pound. Although an informally introduced term, metric pounds were found to be very useful in measuring weight and other forms of mass.
Interesting as pounds may be, one more interesting query that many people continue to seek explanation of, is pound’s symbol of lb. Historians have explained that lb comes from the Roman word libra. Libra is a Latin word which means scales or balance. This is also the explanation why the zodiac sign Libra is symbolized by a picture of a weighing scale or a balance beam. Thus, as the word is abbreviated, lb becomes the symbol. Also, the word pound itself is a translation of the Latin term pendere, which means to weigh. This is the reason why the metric unit of mass, pound, is abbreviated in the letters lb.
According to Latin rule, lb is a symbol used for both singular and plural abbreviation for pound. The use of lbs is not of Latin usage. However today, the addition of the letter s in the symbol for pound, lb, has been widely used in places across the globe where the unit for mass is in pound.

Author: plaza

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