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Pound (Unit of weight Pounds)

a unit of weight. Pounds are of different kinds, as pounds Troy (containing 12 ounces), pounds avoirdupois (containing 16 ounces), etc. A cubic inch of distilled water, at 62° F., the barometer being 30 inches, weighs 252.458 Troy grains, and the Troy pound is equal to 5,760 of these grains. The avoirdupois pound is equal to 7,000 Troy grains, so that the Troy pound is to the avoirdupois as 144 to 175. Pound is also the principal English coin of account, and corresponding to the "coin of circulation" called a sovereign, of the value of about $4.80. It is divided into 20 shillings or 240 pence, and weighs 123.27447 Troy grains (7.98805 grammes), as determined by the British Mint regulation, in virtue of which a mass of gold weighing 40 pounds Troy is coined into 1,869 sovereigns. The name is derived from the fact that in the time of the Conqueror, one Tower pound of silver was coined into 240 silver pence; whence the Tower pennyweight was really and truly the weight of a penny.

The word is also applied to an inclosure, erected by authority, in which cattle or other beasts found straying are impounded or confined.