OUNCE  . (I) (Through O . Fr. once,

modern once, from Lat. uncia, twelfth part, of weight, of a pound, of measure, of a foot, in which sense it gives the O.Eng. ynce, inch), a unit of weight, being the twelfth part of a pound troy, =48o grains; in avoirdupois= 437.5 grains, -1 of a pound . The fluid ounce is a measure of capacity; in the United Kingdom it is equivalent to an avoirdupois ounce of distilled water at 62° F.; in the United States of America it is the 128th part of the gallon, =1 gill, =456.033 grains of distilled water at its maximum density (see WEIGHTS AND MEASURES) . (2) A name properly applied to the Felis uncia or snow leopard (q.v.) . It appears to have been originally used of various species of lynx, and is still sometimes the name of the Canada lynx . The word appears in O . Fr. and Ital. as once and lonce, onza and lonza respectively, and it is usually explained as being due to the confusion of the 1 with the article, lonce and lonza being changed to Ponce or l'onza, and the 1' subsequently dropped . If this be so the word is the same as " lynx," from the popular Lat. lyncia=lyncia, Gr . Xiryt . On the other hand once and onza may be nasalized forms of yuz, the Persian name of the panther .