Gross (unit)
From HandWiki
Short description: Group of 144; a dozen dozen
In English and related languages, several terms involving the words "great" or "gross" relate to numbers involving a multiple of exponents of twelve (dozen):
- A gross refers to a group of 144 items (a dozen dozen or a square dozen, 122).[1][2]
- A great gross refers to a group of 1,728 items (a dozen gross or a cubic dozen, 123).[1][2]
- A small gross[3] or a great hundred[4] refers to a group of 120 items (ten dozen, 10×12).
The term can be abbreviated gr. or gro., and dates from the early 15th century. It derives from the Old French grosse douzaine, meaning "large dozen”.[5] The continued use of these terms in measurement and counting represents the duodecimal number system.[6] This has led groups such as the Dozenal Society of America to advocate for wider use of "gross" and related terms instead of the decimal system.[7][8]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Schwartzman, Steven (1996), The Words of Mathematics: An Etymological Dictionary of Mathematical Terms Used in English, Mathematical Association of America, pp. 100–101, ISBN 9780883855119, https://books.google.com/books?id=SRw4PevE4zUC&pg=PA10.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Darling, David (2004), The Universal Book of Mathematics: From Abracadabra to Zeno's Paradoxes, John Wiley & Sons, p. 140, ISBN 9780471270478, https://books.google.com/books?id=nnpChqstvg0C&pg=PA140.
- ↑ Wright, Carroll Davidson (1910), The New Century Book of Facts: A Handbook of Ready Reference, King-Richardson Company, p. 462, https://books.google.com/books?id=JnBMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA462.
- ↑ Wells, David (1997), The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers (3rd ed.), Penguin, p. 66, ISBN 9780140261493, https://books.google.com/books?id=kQRPkTkk_VIC&pg=PA66.
- ↑ Gross | Origin and meaning of gross by Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/gross
- ↑ Gullberg, Jan (1997), Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 9780393040029, https://archive.org/details/mathematicsfromb1997gull.
- ↑ Dudley, Underwood (1996), Mathematical Cranks, Cambridge University Press, p. 22, ISBN 9780883855072.
- ↑ Bellos, Alex (2012-12-12), "Dozenalists of the world unite! Rise up against the tyranny of ten!", The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/science/alexs-adventures-in-numberland/2012/dec/12/dozenalists-world-unite-tyranny-ten.
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