Early Modern Measurements

Measurement before the enlightenment and the age of standardization varied widely. While some terms had wide adoption, others were highly regional and idiosyncratic. The following equivalencies are meant to aid in estimations.

Wet Amounts

• Tun: 950-960 litres, or approximately 252 gallons during the early modern period. 
• pipe or butt: 1/2 of a tun, 475-480 liters, or 126 gallons
• puncheon: 1/3 of a tun, 316-320 litres, or 84 gallons
• hogshead: 1/4 of a tun, 237-242 litres, or 63 gallons
• tierce: 1/6 of a tun, 158-160 litres, or 42 gallons
• barrel: 1/8 of a tun, 118-120 litres, or 31 1/2 gallons
• rundlet: 1/14 of a tun, 68-69 litres, or 18 gallons
• quart:
• ounce, fluid ounce, fl oz (℥, fl ℥, f℥, ƒ ℥): The fluid ounce was originally the volume occupied by one ounce (in weight) of some substance.
  • Comparison to modern amounts: In Britain today, an imperial fluid ounce is 1/20 of an imperial pint; a US fluid ounce is 1/16 of a US fluid pint (about 4% bigger than the imperial fluid ounce). The Imperial measurements were codified in 1824.
• spoon: a tablespoon is, in modern measurements, about 1/2 an ounce. The term 'table spoon' comes from the transition (after 1700) from the practice of bringing a personal spoon to the table to the practice of having a place setting, or a 'table-spoon, table-fork, and table-knife'.
• dram or drachm: 1/8 of a fluid ounce

Comparisons:

1 ton = 2 butts, 3 puncheons, 4 hogsheads, 6 tierces, 8 barrels, or 14 rundlets

1 ounce = 2 table spoons, 8 drams

Weight

• The ounce (abbreviated oz; apothecary symbol: ℥): the apothecaries' ounce is equivalent in weight to the troy ounce
  • in modern terms, 31.1g, not the ~28.3g of the avoirdupois ounce.