Ton Definition | Definition of Ton at Dictionary.com

Nearby Entries

tomtate

ton - 13 dictionary results

ton

1 [tuhn]

Use ton in a Sentence

–noun

1.	a unit of weight, equivalent to 2000 pounds (0.907 metric ton) avoirdupois (short ton) in the U.S. and 2240 pounds (1.016 metric tons) avoirdupois (long ton) in Great Britain.

2.	Also called freight ton. a unit of volume for freight that weighs one ton, varying with the type of freight measured, as 40 cubic feet of oak timber or 20 bushels of wheat.

3.	metric ton.

4.	displacement ton.

5.	a unit of volume used in transportation by sea, commonly equal to 40 cubic feet (1.13 cu. m) (shipping ton or measurement ton).

6.	a unit of internal capacity of ships, equal to 100 cubic feet (2.83 cu. m) (register ton).

7.	Often, tons. Informal. a great quantity; a lot: a ton of jokes; tons of wedding presents.

8.	British Informal. a speed of 100 miles per hour.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME; var. of tun

ton

2 [Fr. tawn]

–noun, plural tons [Fr. tawn]

1.	high fashion; stylishness.

2.	the current fashion, style, or vogue.

Origin:
1755–65; < F < L tonus tone

Related forms:

ton⋅ish, ton⋅nish [ton-ish]

, adjective

ton⋅ish⋅ly, ton⋅nish⋅ly, adverb

ton⋅ish⋅ness, ton⋅nish⋅ness, noun

-ton

a suffix formerly used to form nouns from adjectives: simpleton; singleton.

Origin:
var. of dial. tone one (see tother )

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To ton

ton (tŭn)

n. Abbr. t. or tn.

A unit of weight equal to 2,000 pounds (0.907 metric ton or 907.18 kilograms). Also called net ton, short ton.
A unit of weight equal to 2,240 pounds (1.016 metric tons or 1,016.05 kilograms). Also called long ton.
A metric ton. See Table at measurement.
A unit of capacity for cargo in maritime shipping, normally estimated at 40 cubic feet.
A unit of internal capacity of a ship equal to 100 cubic feet.
A unit for measuring the displacement of ships, equal to 35 cubic feet, and supposed to equal the volume taken by a long ton of seawater.
Informal
1. A large extent, amount, or number. Often used in the plural: has a ton of work; gets tons of fan mail.
2. Used adverbially with a or in the plural to mean "to a great degree or extent" or "frequently": felt a ton better; has seen her tons lately.

[Middle English tonne, a measure of weight; see tun.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Ton

Ton\, obs. pl. of Toe. --Chaucer.

Ton

Ton\, n. [Cf. Tunny.] (Zo["o]l.) The common tunny, or house mackerel.

Ton

Ton\, n. [F. See Tone.] The prevailing fashion or mode; vogue; as, things of ton. --Byron.

If our people of ton are selfish, at any rate they show they are selfish. --Thackeray.

Bon ton. See in the Vocabulary.

Ton

Ton\, n. [OE. tonne, tunne, a tun, AS. tunne a tun, tub, a large vessel; akin to G. & F. tonne a ton, tun, LL. tunna a tun; all perhaps of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. tunna a tun. Cf. Tun,Tunnel.] (Com.) A measure of weight or quantity. Specifically: (a) The weight of twenty hundredweight.

Note: In England, the ton is 2,240 pounds. In the United States the ton is commonly estimated at 2,000 pounds, this being sometimes called the short ton, while that of 2,240 pounds is called the long ton. (b) (Naut. & Com.) Forty cubic feet of space, being the unit of measurement of the burden, or carrying capacity, of a vessel; as a vessel of 300 tons burden. See the Note under Tonnage. (c) (Naut. & Com.) A certain weight or quantity of merchandise, with reference to transportation as freight; as, six hundred weight of ship bread in casks, seven hundred weight in bags, eight hundred weight in bulk; ten bushels of potatoes; eight sacks, or ten barrels, of flour; forty cubic feet of rough, or fifty cubic feet of hewn, timber, etc.

Note: Ton and tun have the same etymology, and were formerly used interchangeably; but now ton generally designates the weight, and tun the cask. See Tun.

Language Translation for : ton

Spanish: tonelada,

German: die Tonne,

Japanese: トン

More Translations »

ton

1379, tonne, unit for measuring the carrying capacity of a ship, originally "space occupied by a tun or cask of wine," thus identical to tun (q.v.). The two words were not differentiated until c.1688. The measure of weight is first recorded 1485; the spelling ton is from 1538, and became firmly established 18c. Tonnage (1422) was originally "tax or duty on wine imported in tuns." Modern tonne (1877) is the Fr. form of the word, adopted for Eng. use to denote a metric ton (1,000 kg.).

ton (tŭn) Pronunciation Key

A unit of weight in the US Customary System equal to 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms). Also called short ton. See Table at measurement.
A unit of weight in the US Customary System equal to 2,240 pounds (1,008 kilograms). Also called long ton. See Table at measurement.
See metric ton.

ton

see like a ton of bricks.

TON
threshold odor number

ton

unit of weight in the avoirdupois system equal to 2,000 pounds (907.18 kg) in the United States (the short ton) and 2,240 pounds (1,016.05 kg) in Britain (the long ton). The metric ton used in most other countries is 1,000 kg, equivalent to 2,204.6 pounds avoirdupois. The term derives from tun, denoting a large barrel used in the wine trade and named from the French tonnerre, or "thunder," in turn named for the rumbling it produced when rolled. Ton came to mean any large weight, until it was standardized at 20 hundredweight although the total weight could be 2,000, 2,160, 2,240, or 2,400 pounds (from 907.18 to 1088.62 kg) depending on whether the corresponding hundredweight contained 100, 108, 112, or 120 pounds

Learn more about ton with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source

Search another word or see ton on Thesaurus | Reference

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Advertise with Us · Link to Us · NASCAR® · Contact Us