ton English · revision 6165

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tʌn/; fashion: UK /tɔ̃ː/, US /tõʊ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|unit of weight}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1379}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The weight is a variant of [[tun]], a cask, Middle English tonne, tunne;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) the two spellings were used for both the container and the measure until the senses were differentiated about 1688.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) The spelling ton is found from 1538 but became established only in the 18th century,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) perhaps helped by [[fro|tonne]] and [[la-med|tonna]] in legal forms.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A unit of a ship's carrying capacity, originally the space taken up by a tun of wine: probably before 1300 in Barnhart, 1379 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A measure for solid goods such as stone, lime or wheat is from 1428–29, and for timber, usually 40 cubic feet, from 1521.^(OED 1989) The strict sense of a measure of weight is first recorded in 1485,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) now 2,240 pounds (the long ton) in Britain and 2,000 pounds (the short ton) in the United States.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD) The metric tonne of 1,000 kilograms appears in English in the late 19th century, from French.^(Cresswell 2021) A very large amount, ''tons of'', is colloquial from 1770,^(OED 1989) and ''tons'' as an adverb, ''tons better'', from 1908.^(OED 1989) [[tonnage|alt=Tonnage]] was a tax on wine imported in tuns, from 1422.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1379 – a ship's carrying capacity.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1428–29 – a measure of goods.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1485 – a measure of weight.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1538 – the spelling ton.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1688 – ton and tun distinguished.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1770 – a large amount.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A unit of weight equal to 2,240 pounds (the long ton) in Britain or 2,000 pounds (the short ton) in the United States.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A metric ton, 1,000 [[kilogram|alt=kilograms]]; a [[tonne]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A unit of a ship's cargo capacity or displacement.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal, often tons)'' A great amount.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tonnage]]

+ * [[tonne]]

+ * [[megaton]]

+ * [[kiloton]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|fashion}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1756|origins=la tonus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The fashion is [[bor|fr|ton|t=tone, style]], from [[la|tonus]] (see [[tone]]),^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) perhaps through the French phrase bon ton, “good style”, used in English from 1744.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The prevailing mode or fashion: 1769 in the OED and Etymonline, “a word used at present to express every thing that's fashionable”;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) MWU dates its first known use to 1756.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It also meant fashionable people as a group, the beau monde.^(SOED 2002) It was used mainly in the 18th and 19th centuries.^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1744 – bon ton.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1769 – the fashion, the vogue.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(dated)'' The prevailing fashion; stylishness.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(dated)'' Fashionable society.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bon ton]]

+ * [[tun]]

+ * [[tunnel]]

+ * [[tone]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The OED records another ton (1693), the grub of the cockchafer.^(OED 1989) In Devon dialect a ton was a spinning wheel.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}