Stone (weight)
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The stone is a unit of mass in the Imperial system of weights and measures used in the United Kingdom, and formerly used in Ireland and most Commonwealth countries. It is equal to 14 pounds avoirdupois, or 6.35029318 kilograms. 8 stone make a hundredweight in the Imperial system. The plural form of "stone" is usually also "stone", though "stones" is sometimes used.
Though no longer an official unit of measure – in medical and other technical contexts kilograms are used – the stone remains almost universal for use in Britain and Ireland as a means of expressing human body weight. People in these countries would normally describe themselves as weighing, for example, "11 stone 4" (11 stone and 4 pounds), rather than "158 pounds" as would be the conventional way of expressing the same weight in the United States and Canada. Stones may also be used to express body weight in casual contexts in other Commonwealth countries, reflecting past usage.
The stone was also frequently used in the past for weighing agricultural commodities. Potatoes, for example, were traditionally sold in stones or half-stones (14-pound or 7-pound quantities).
Equivalents
- 1 stone = 14 pounds = 6.350 kilograms
- 2 stone = 28 pounds = 12.700 kilograms
- 3 stone = 42 pounds = 19.051 kilograms
- 4 stone = 56 pounds = 25.401 kilograms
- 5 stone = 70 pounds = 31.751 kilograms
- 6 stone = 84 pounds = 38.102 kilograms
- 7 stone = 98 pounds = 44.452 kilograms
- 8 stone = 112 pounds = 50.802 kilograms
- 9 stone = 126 pounds = 57.152 kilograms
- 10 stone = 140 pounds = 63.503 kilograms
- 11 stone = 154 pounds = 69.853 kilograms
- 12 stone = 168 pounds = 76.204 kilograms
In popular culture
- In Ultima Underworld and in , stones are used to measure the weight of the player's inventory.
- In AC/DC's song "Whole Lotta Rosie", a woman is said to be "weighing in at nineteen stone".
- The Kinks' song "Skin and Bone" contains the lyric "Fat flabby Annie was incredibly big; she weighed just about sixteen stone"; The Kinks' "Superman" is about "a nine-stone weakling with knobbly knees".
- In Marillion's song "The Uninvited Guest", the narrator states, "I'm your fifteen-stone first-footer."
See also
External links
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