Quintal (unit of mass)
Encyclopedia
The quintal or centner, from Latin centenarius ("hundredlike"), is a historical unit of mass
in many countries which is usually defined as 100 base units of either pound
s or kilogram
s. If based on the pound, it is equivalent to the Imperial hundredweight
.
centenarius, meaning hundredlike, but the quintal has a convoluted etymology: It became Late Latin
centenarium pondus, then in succession, Late Greek
, κεντηνάριον (kentenarion), Arabic
, qintar. The qintar was reimported to Europe by traders during the Middle Ages, where it became Mediæval Latin
quintale, and finally Old French
quintal before passing into the English language
from French.
The word centner, on the other hand, is simply a Germanicized
form of its original Latin name centenarius.
Languages drawing its cognate name for the weight from Arabic qintar include French quintal, Italian quintale, Portuguese quintal, Ukrainian квінтал (kvintal), Esperanto kvintalo. Languages taking their cognates from Germanicized centner include German Zentner
, Lithuanian centneris, Swedish centner, Polish cetnar, Russian центнер (zentner), Estonian tsentner, and Spanish centena.
Many European languages have come to translate both the Imperial and US hundredweight
as their cognate form of quintal or centner.
was considered equivalent to half a kilogram), and those uprated to being based on the full kilogram.
In India
and Albania
(kuintal), the quintal as equivalent to 100 kilogram was imported via Arabic influence and is a standard measurement of mass for agricultural products.
In France
it used to be defined as 100 livres (pounds), about 48.95 kg, and has later been redefined as 100 kg (mesures usuelles
), thus called metric quintal with symbol qq.
In Spain
, the centena is still defined as 100 libras, or about 46 kg, but the metric quintal is also defined as 100 kg ;
In Portugal
a quintal is 128 libras or about 58.75 kg.
The German Zentner is pound-based, and thus since metrification is defined as 50 kg, whereas the Austrian and Swiss Zentner since metrification has been re-defined as 100 kg.
Common agricultural units used in the Soviet Union
were the 100-kilogram centner (центнер) and the term "centner per hectare
". These are still used by countries released from the former Soviet Union.
both terms quintal and centner were once alternative names for the hundredweight
and thus defined either as 100 lb
(exactly 45.359237 kg) or as 112 lb (about 50.84 kg). Also, in the Dominican Republic
it is about 125 lb. The German Zentner was introduced to the English language via Hanseatic trade
as a measure of the weight of certain crops
including hops
for beer
production.
The quintal was defined in the United States in 1866 as 100 kilograms. However, this is not in use and though it still appears in the statute, it has been declared obsolete by NIST.
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
in many countries which is usually defined as 100 base units of either pound
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
s or kilogram
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
s. If based on the pound, it is equivalent to the Imperial hundredweight
Hundredweight
The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...
.
Etymology
Both terms share their roots in the Classical LatinClassical Latin
Classical Latin in simplest terms is the socio-linguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it...
centenarius, meaning hundredlike, but the quintal has a convoluted etymology: It became Late Latin
Late Latin
Late Latin is the scholarly name for the written Latin of Late Antiquity. The English dictionary definition of Late Latin dates this period from the 3rd to the 6th centuries AD extending in Spain to the 7th. This somewhat ambiguously defined period fits between Classical Latin and Medieval Latin...
centenarium pondus, then in succession, Late Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, κεντηνάριον (kentenarion), Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, qintar. The qintar was reimported to Europe by traders during the Middle Ages, where it became Mediæval Latin
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration. Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors,...
quintale, and finally Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
quintal before passing into the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
from French.
The word centner, on the other hand, is simply a Germanicized
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
form of its original Latin name centenarius.
Languages drawing its cognate name for the weight from Arabic qintar include French quintal, Italian quintale, Portuguese quintal, Ukrainian квінтал (kvintal), Esperanto kvintalo. Languages taking their cognates from Germanicized centner include German Zentner
Zentner
The zentner is an obsolete name for a unit of mass which was used predominantly in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, although it was also sometimes used in the United Kingdom – for example, as a measure of the weight of certain crops including hops for beer production – and similar...
, Lithuanian centneris, Swedish centner, Polish cetnar, Russian центнер (zentner), Estonian tsentner, and Spanish centena.
Many European languages have come to translate both the Imperial and US hundredweight
Hundredweight
The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...
as their cognate form of quintal or centner.
Pound-based vs. kilogram-based
The concept has resulted in two different series of masses: Those based on the local pound (which after metricationMetrication
Metrication refers to the introduction and use of the SI metric system, the international standard for physical measurements. This has involved a long process of independent and systematic conversions of countries from various local systems of weights and measures. Metrication began in France in...
was considered equivalent to half a kilogram), and those uprated to being based on the full kilogram.
In India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
(kuintal), the quintal as equivalent to 100 kilogram was imported via Arabic influence and is a standard measurement of mass for agricultural products.
In France
French units of measurement
France has a unique history of units of measurement due to radical attempts to adopt a metric system following the French Revolution.In the Ancien régime, before 1795, France used a system of measures that had many of the characteristics of the modern Imperial System of units...
it used to be defined as 100 livres (pounds), about 48.95 kg, and has later been redefined as 100 kg (mesures usuelles
Mesures usuelles
Mesures usuelles were a system of measurement introduced by Napoleon I in 1812 to act as compromise between the metric system and traditional measurements...
), thus called metric quintal with symbol qq.
In Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, the centena is still defined as 100 libras, or about 46 kg, but the metric quintal is also defined as 100 kg ;
In Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
a quintal is 128 libras or about 58.75 kg.
The German Zentner is pound-based, and thus since metrification is defined as 50 kg, whereas the Austrian and Swiss Zentner since metrification has been re-defined as 100 kg.
Common agricultural units used in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
were the 100-kilogram centner (центнер) and the term "centner per hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
". These are still used by countries released from the former Soviet Union.
In Anglo-American countries
In EnglishEnglish unit
English units are the historical units of measurement used in England up to 1824, which evolved as a combination of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman systems of units...
both terms quintal and centner were once alternative names for the hundredweight
Hundredweight
The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...
and thus defined either as 100 lb
Avoirdupois
The avoirdupois system is a system of weights based on a pound of 16 ounces. It is the everyday system of weight used in the United States and is still widely used to varying degrees by many people in Canada, the United Kingdom, and some other former British colonies despite the official adoption...
(exactly 45.359237 kg) or as 112 lb (about 50.84 kg). Also, in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
it is about 125 lb. The German Zentner was introduced to the English language via Hanseatic trade
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
as a measure of the weight of certain crops
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
including hops
Hops
Hops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...
for beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
production.
The quintal was defined in the United States in 1866 as 100 kilograms. However, this is not in use and though it still appears in the statute, it has been declared obsolete by NIST.