Zentner

For the community in California, see Zentner, California. For people named Zentner, see Zentner (surname).

The zentner (German Zentner, from Latin centenarius, derived from centum meaning "hundred") is an obsolete name for a unit of mass which was used predominantly in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, although it was also sometimes used in the United Kingdom – for example, as a measure of the weight of certain crops including hops for beer production – and similar units were used in Scandinavia.[1] Like the notion of hundredweight, the zentner is the weight of 100 units, where the value of the unit depends on the time and location. Traditionally the unit was one hundred pounds (German Pfund), or roughly 50000 grams – the precise value being context-dependent – making one zentner equal to about 50 kilograms.

In later times, with the adoption of the metric system, the value came to denote exactly 50 kg, at least in Germany; in Austria and Switzerland the term is now in use for a measure of 100 kg. In Germany a measure of 100 kg is named a Doppelzentner.

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Dictionary of Units of Measure, University of North Carolina


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