Ton
/tʌn/noun
A unit of weight or volume equal to 2,000 pounds in the U.S. or 2,240 pounds in the U.K., and by extension, a large amount.
Did you know?The word originally referred to a huge cask or tun, and the weight unit developed from the amount such a barrel could hold—language literally measured the world by containers.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dū-no-
“A container or receptacle (reconstructed ancestor of later forms)”
Old English
English
tunne
“A large cask or barrel”
Middle English
English
tonne
“A large cask; later, a measure based on a cask's capacity”
14th Century
English
ton
“A standard measure of capacity or weight derived from a tun”
Modern English
English
ton
“A unit of weight or a very large quantity”