ton

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A very large amount of something.

   I've got a ton of work to do this week.

2. 2
   noun

   A unit of weight, about 1,000 kilograms.

   The truck was carrying ten tons of gravel.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Ton is a variant of tun, and both spellings were formerly used for both a container and a measure of weight or capacity. The senses were separated in the late 17th century, when tun became restricted to a cask and ton retained the measurement sense. A ton originally measured a ship's capacity by the space occupied by a cask of wine.

Borrowed from French ton (“manner”), from Latin tonus. Doublet of tone, tune, and tonus.

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