Gross (unit)

In English and related languages, several terms involving the words "great" or "gross" relate to numbers involving a multiple of exponents of twelve (dozen):

• A gross is a group of 144 items (a dozen dozen or a square dozen, 12²). ^{[1] [2]}
• A great gross is a group of 1,728 items (a dozen gross or a cubic dozen, 12³). ^{[1] [2]}
• A small gross ^[3] or a great hundred ^[4] is a group of 120 items (ten dozen, 10×12).

The term can be abbreviated gr. or gro., and dates from the early 15th century. It derives from the Old French grosse douzaine, meaning "large dozen”. ^[5] The continued use of these terms in measurement and counting represents the duodecimal number system. ^[6] This has led groups such as the Dozenal Society of America to advocate for wider use of "gross" and related terms instead of the decimal system. ^{[7] [8]}

See also

• Long hundred

References

1. Schwartzman, Steven (1996), The Words of Mathematics: An Etymological Dictionary of Mathematical Terms Used in English, Mathematical Association of America, pp. 100–101, ISBN   9780883855119 .
2. Darling, David (2004), The Universal Book of Mathematics: From Abracadabra to Zeno's Paradoxes, John Wiley & Sons, p. 140, ISBN   9780471270478 .
3. Wright, Carroll Davidson (1910), The New Century Book of Facts: A Handbook of Ready Reference, King-Richardson Company, p. 462.
4. Wells, David (1997), The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers (3rd ed.), Penguin, p. 66, ISBN   9780140261493 .
5. Gross | Origin and meaning of gross by Online Etymology Dictionary
6. Gullberg, Jan (1997), Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers , W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN   9780393040029 .
7. Dudley, Underwood (1996), Mathematical Cranks, Cambridge University Press, p. 22, ISBN   9780883855072 .
8. Bellos, Alex (2012-12-12), "Dozenalists of the world unite! Rise up against the tyranny of ten!", The Guardian .