apothecaries' pound

9.9

An old unit of weight used for medicines equal to 12 ounces, about 373 grams

noun
/əˈpɑːθɪˌkɛriz paʊnd/

Archaic

: libra de boticario

One apothecaries' pound is equivalent to 12 ounces.

Examples

In old medical texts, dosages were often given in the apothecaries' pound rather than the avoirdupois system.
The chemist carefully measured out the herbs using a scale marked in apothecaries' pounds.
Historians researching early pharmacy must understand how the apothecaries' pound compares to modern metric units.
In ancient times, an apothecaries' pound was a standard weight.
In old medical texts, dosages were often given in the apothecaries' pound rather than the avoirdupois system.
The chemist carefully measured out the herbs using a scale marked in apothecaries' pounds.
Historians researching early pharmacy must understand how the apothecaries' pound compares to modern metric units.

Synonyms

troy pound

vsapothecaries' pound

Archaic

9.4

A weight for measuring gold and silver equal to about 373 grams

is the same mass but used historically in pharmacy

Surface Forms

apothecaries' pound singular

apothecaries' pounds plural

Morphology

apothecaries' + pound

The phrase is a straightforward possessive noun + unit construction: 'apothecaries'' (of pharmacists) + 'pound' (a unit of weight), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes a type of pound used by apothecaries. The precise historical equivalence (12 ounces) is specialized factual knowledge and not predictable from the parts, but the basic lexical meaning is transparently compositional.

Etymology

Apothecaries' pound comes from shop workers called apothecaries, who were 'old pharmacists' and used a special pound to weigh herbs and 'medicine'. That's why the name means a particular unit of 'weight' used for making medicines.