tonne

Etymology

It is borrowed from French tonne (“ton, tun”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the French form of ton, adopted in English for the metric ton of 1,000 kilograms.^[2][7] The French word comes from Old French tonne, from Late Latin tunna, which is probably of Celtic origin.^[5][8][9] English ton is in origin the same word as tun, a large cask; the two spellings were kept apart from about 1688, tun for the cask and ton for the weight.^[2][7] Merriam-Webster relates it to tunnel.^[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A metric ton of 1,000 kilograms: 1877, in the Reports of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.^[2][7] Merriam-Webster dates the first use to 1869,^[3] and the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English place it in the late 19th century, and Dictionary.com to 1900–05.^[4][10][11]

Timeline

• 1869 – a metric ton of 1,000 kilograms.^[3] The OED's first record is from 1877.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A metric unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms, about 2,204.6 pounds; a metric ton: The harbour crane can lift forty tonnes.^[6][3][2][4]

Related words

• ton
• tun
• tunnel
• tonnage

Usage notes

Besides /tʌn/, the same as ton, the OED gives a British pronunciation /ˈtʌni/.^[2] Collins labels metric ton as not in technical use, where tonne is the term.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House