quintal

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a metric unit of mass equal to 100 kilograms

   The cooperative sold five quintals of coffee beans at auction.

2. 2
   noun

   historical: any of several commercial units of weight, often about 100 pounds but varying by place and period

   In that port, a quintal of sugar weighed considerably more than an English hundredweight.

From Anglo-French quintal and Medieval Latin quintale, through Arabic qintar and Greek kentenarion, ultimately from Latin centenarium ('a weight of one hundred pounds'). The value varied widely before metric standardization.

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