Kilo Lingo

/tʌn/

Line drawing of ton
Coloured illustration of ton
#2018 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

A unit for measuring very heavy things; people also say a ton of to mean a lot.

Word origin

Originally the same word as tun, a large barrel; the weight was named after a full barrel of wine.

Origin
Old English
Root
tunne

Grammar

Gender
Pluraltons

Examples

lorry .

A ton is a unit for weighing very heavy things.

weighs !

Saying something "weighs a ton" just means it is very heavy.

.

"Tons of" is an informal way to say a very large amount.

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This word is part of lesson 41.