Dram (unit)

The dram (alternative British spelling drachm; apothecary symbol ʒ or ℨ; abbreviated dr)^{[1][2]: C-6–C-7 [3]} is a unit of mass in the avoirdupois system, and both a unit of mass and a unit of volume in the apothecaries' system.^[2] It was originally both a coin and a weight in ancient Greece.^[4] The unit of volume is more correctly called a fluid dram, fluid drachm, fluidram or fluidrachm (abbreviated fl dr, ƒ 3, or fʒ).^{[1][2]: C-17 [3][5][6][7]}

Ancient unit of mass

• The Attic Greek drachma (δραχμή) was a weight of 6 obols, 1⁄100 Greek mina, or about 4.37 grams.^[8]
• The Roman drachma was a weight of 1⁄96 Roman pounds, or about 3.41 grams.^[9][10]

A coin weighing one drachma is known as a

British unit of mass

The British Weights and Measures Act of 1878 introduced verification and consequent stamping of apothecary weights, making them officially recognized units of measurement. By 1900, Britain had enforced the distinction between the avoirdupois and apothecaries' versions by making the spelling different:^[11]

• dram now meant only avoirdupois drams, which were 1⁄16 of an avoirdupois ounce. An ounce consisted of 437.5 grains, thus making the dram approximately 27.34 grains.
• drachm now meant only apothecaries' drachms, which were 1⁄8 of an apothecaries' ounce of 480 grains, thus equal to 60 grains.

Modern unit of mass

In the

"Dram" is also used as a measure of the powder charge in a shotgun shell, representing the equivalent of black powder in drams avoirdupois.[13]

Unit of volume

The fluid dram (or fluid drachm in British spelling^[14]) is defined as 1⁄8 of a fluid ounce,^{[2]: C-5, C-7} and is exactly equal to:

• 3.6966911953125 
  U.S. customary system^[2]
  ^{: C-5, C-12}
• 3.5516328125 ml in the British Imperial system^{[2]: C-7 [15]}

A

While pharmaceuticals are measured nowadays exclusively in metric units, fluid drams are still used to measure the capacity of pill containers.

Dram is used informally to mean a small amount of

The line "Where'd you get your whiskey, where'd you get your dram?" appears in some versions of the traditional pre–Civil War American song "Cindy".[20] In the Monty Python's song "The Bruces' Philosophers Song", there is the line "Hobbes was fond of his dram". In the old-time music tradition of the United States, there is a tune entitled "Gie the Fiddler a Dram",^[21][22] "gie" being the Scots language word for "give", brought over by immigrants and commonly used by their descendants in Appalachia at the time of writing. "Little Maggie," a traditional song popular in bluegrass music, refers to the title character as having a "dram glass in her hand."^[23]

In the episode "Double Indecency" of the TV series Archer, the character Cheryl/Carol was carrying around 10 drams of Vole's blood and even offered to pay for a taxi ride with it.

In Frank Herbert's Dune, the Fremen employ a sophisticated measurement system that involves the drachm (and fractions thereof) to accurately count and economize water, an ultra-precious resource on their home, the desert planet Arrakis.

References

External links

Look up dram in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Appendix C – General Tables of Units of Measurement in Specifications, Tolerances, and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices. NIST Handbook 44 (2012 ed.).
• Image Archived 2014-12-02 at the Wayback Machine of Ancient Greek silver drachm with flying Pegasus, Acarnania, Leucas, c. 470–450 BCE