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Ton

There are three similar units of mass called the ton or tonne:

The word ton or tonne is derived from the Old English tunne, and ultimately from the Old French tonne, and referred originally to a large cask with a capacity of 252 gallons, which holds approximately 2016 pounds of water. Such a barrel is still called a tun in British English, but usage is now dying out.

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The freight ton or measurement ton is also used as what is technically a measure of volume when measuring ship capacities (tonnage) or freights. One measurement ton is equal to: The amount of water displaced by a volume of one measurement ton has a mass similar to the tons of mass listed above, 1,132.7 kg or 2497.1 lb. The measurement ton is abbreviated as M/T, MT or MTON which can cause it to be confused with the metric ton.

The register ton is also a unit of volume, defined as 100 cubic feet. It is often abbreviated as GRT for gross registered ton.

See 1 E-1 m³ for a comparison with other volumes, also orders of magnitude (volume).

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