Pint
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2008-07-11T14:09:23Z
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/* Definitions */
{{wiktionarypar|pint}}
The '''pint''' is an [[English unit]] of [[volume]] or capacity in the [[imperial unit|imperial system]] and [[United States customary units]] and is equivalent to 568ml (very roughly half a [[litre]].)
As with other measurement units used in the [[imperial unit|imperial system]] and USA, the pint used to be a common measure throughout Europe (differing in exact value from country to country) but was replaced in most of Europe with the [[metric system]] during the nineteenth century.
==Definitions==
;Imperial pint
:The imperial pint is equal one eighth of an imperial [[gallon]].<ref name=ft3>Fifty imperial pints or sixty US liquid pints are both very close to one [[cubic foot]].</ref> It is used in the United Kingdom and other [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries, though mostly replaced by metric units.
::{|
|-
|1 imperial pint
|=
|align=right| 1/8||imperial gallons
|-
|||=
|align=right| 1/2||imperial [[quart]]s
|-
|||=
|align=right| 4||imperial [[gill (unit)|gill]]s
|-
|||=
|align=right| 20||imperial [[fluid ounce]]s
|-
|||=
|align=right|568.26125||[[millilitre]]s (exactly)<ref>after the 1985 (UK), c. 1964 (Canada), redefinition of the imperial gallon</ref><ref>[http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19951804_en_2.htm Units of Measurement Regulations 1995]</ref> ≈ 568 ml
|-
|||≈
|align=right|34.677429099||cubic inches
|-
|||≈
|align=right|1.2009499255||U.S. liquid pints
|-
|||≈
|align=right|1.0320567435||U.S. dry pints
|-
|||≈
|align=right|1.125||[[Pound (mass)|lbs]] of water at 67[[°F]]
|}
;United States liquid pint
:The United States liquid pint is equal one eighth of a United States liquid gallon.<ref name=ft3>↑</ref> It is used commonly in the United States.
::{|
|-
|1 U.S. liquid pint
|=
|align=right| 1/8||U.S. liquid gallons
|-
|||=
|align=right| 1/2||U.S. liquid quarts
|-
|||=
|align=right| 2||U.S. [[cup (unit)|cup]]s
|-
|||=
|align=right| 4||U.S. fluid gills
|-
|||=
|align=right| 16||U.S. fluid ounces
|-
|||=
|align=right| 28.875||cubic inches (exactly)<ref>One U.S. liquid gallon is defined as 231 cubic inches.</ref>
|-
|||=
|align=right|473.176473||millilitres (exactly)<ref name=l&in>after the 1964 redefinition of the litre and the 1959 redefinition of the inch</ref> ≈ 473 ml
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.83267418463||imperial pints
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.85936700738||U.S. dry pints
|}
;United States dry pint
:The United States [[dry measure|dry]] pint is equal one eighth of a United States dry gallon. It is used in the United States but is not as common as the liquid pint.
::{|
|-
|1 U.S. dry pint
|=
|align=right| 1/8||U.S. dry gallons
|-
|||=
|align=right| 1/2||U.S. dry quarts
|-
|||=
|align=right| 33.6003125||cubic inches (exactly)
|-
|||=
|align=right|550.6104713575||millilitres (exactly)<ref name=l&in>↑</ref> ≈ 551 ml
|-
|||≈
|align=right|0.96893897192||imperial pints
|-
|||≈
|align=right|1.1636471861||U.S. liquid pints
|}
;Metric pint
:One metric pint (used informally) is equal to 500 ml.
;Scottish pint
:There was a [[Obsolete Scottish units of measurement|now-obsolete unit of measurement]] in [[Scotland]] known as the ''[[Joug|Scottish pint]]'' or ''joug'' and equal to three imperial pints. It remained in use until the 19th century, and survived significantly longer than most of the old Scottish measurements.
==History==
The pint is defined as one eighth of a gallon. Other versions of the gallon were defined for different commodities, and there were equally many versions of the pint.
America adopted the British wine gallon (defined in [[1707]] as 231 cubic inches exactly (3 in × 7 in × 11 in)) as its basic liquid measure, from which the U.S. wet pint is derived, and the British corn gallon (⅛ of a standard “Winchester” [[bushel]] of [[cereal|corn]], or 268.8 cubic inches) as its dry measure, from which the US dry pint is derived.
In [[1824]] the British parliament replaced all its variant gallons with a new [[imperial gallon]] based on ten [[pound (mass)|pound]]s of distilled water at 62 [[Fahrenheit|°F]] (277.42 cubic inches), from which the UK pint is derived.
=== Effects of metrication ===
As part of the [[metrication]] process, the pint in the UK, [[Kenya]] and [[Virgin Islands]] is now used only as a measure for [[beer]] and [[cider]] when sold by the glass (see [[pint glass]]) – in [[public house]]s for instance – and for [[milk]], although milk is also sold in metric quantities.<!--Does this all apply to the UK ''and'' Kenya?-->
Many recipes published in the UK still provide ingredient quantities in imperial, where the pint is often used as a unit for larger liquid quantities. Most new recipes are now published in metric only with the "pint" being rounded to 500 or 600 ml.
In the Republic of Ireland, the pint is used for serving beer and cider. Sometimes milk is also sold by the pint.
In Australia and New Zealand, a subtle change was made in 1-pint milk bottles during the conversion from Imperial to metric in the 1970s. The height and diameter of the milk bottle remained unchanged, so that existing equipment for handling and storing such bottles was unaffected, but the shape was subtly adjusted to increase the capacity from 568 ml to 600 ml - a nice, round, metric measure. Such milk bottles are no longer officially referred to as pints. The [[Australian beer#Beer_Glasses|pint glass in pubs in Australia]] (which is so called) remains closer to the standard Imperial pint, at 570 ml.
A pint of beer in [[Australia]] or [[New Zealand]] is 570 ml, except in [[South Australia]] where a pint is 425 ml and 570 ml is called an ''imperial pint''.
A 375 ml bottle of liquor in the US and the [[Canadian]] maritime provinces is sometimes referred to as a “pint”, hearkening back to the days when liquor came in actual US pints, quarts, and half-gallons.
In some regions of France, a standard 250 ml measure of beer is known as "a half", originally meaning a half pint.
== Etymology ==
[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pint pint]
The [[French language|French]] word ''pinte'' is etymologically related, but historically described a larger unit, of about 952.1 ml. In [[French Canada]] in particular, the imperial pint is actually the ''chopine'' whilst the imperial [[quart]] is the ''pinte''. In France it's sometimes used to describe a 500 ml glass of beer. In [[Flanders]], the word pint only refers to a 250 ml glass of lager. Some West- and East-Flemish dialects use it as a word for [[beaker (drinkware)|beaker]].
== References ==
<references/>
==External links==
* [http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/1297&type=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en European Commission press release (IP/07/1297, 11 September 2007): Pints and miles will not disappear due to European Commission proposal] [http://www.europe.org.uk/news/view/-/id/187/]
[[Category:Imperial units]]
[[Category:Units of volume]]
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