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The dram (alternative British spelling drachm; apothecary symbol ʒ or ℨ;[a] abbreviated dr)[4][5]: C-6–C-7 [6] is a unit of mass in the avoirdupois system, and both a unit of mass and a unit of volume in the apothecaries' system.[5] It was originally both a coin and a weight in ancient Greece.[7] The unit of volume is more correctly called a fluid dram, fluid drachm, fluidram or fluidrachm (abbreviated fl dr, ƒ 3, or fʒ).[4][5]: C-17 [6][8][9][10]

Ancient unit of mass

[edit]
Ilyria Dyracchium drachm
Silver Drachm from Dyrrhachium, Illyria dated c. 229 BC. Obverse: ΞΕΝΩΝ (Xenon) cow standing right, looking back at calf which it suckles, eagle standing right above; Reverse: DUR PURBA, square containing double stellate pattern, club to left. Size: 20mm; Reference: Ceka 360
  • The Attic Greek drachma (δραχμή) was a weight of 6 obols, 1⁄100 Greek mina, or about 4.37 grams.[11]
  • The Roman drachma was a weight of 1⁄96 Roman pounds, or about 3.41 grams.[12][13]

A coin weighing one drachma is known as a stater, drachm, or drachma. The Ottoman dirhem (Ottoman Turkish: درهم) was based on the Sassanian drachm, which was itself based on the Roman dram/drachm.

British unit of mass

[edit]

The British Weights and Measures Act 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:[14]

  • 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 exactly 27.34375 grains.
  • drachm now meant only apothecaries' drachms, which were 1⁄8 of an apothecaries' ounce of 480 grains, or equal to 60 grains.

Modern unit of mass

[edit]

In the avoirdupois system, the dram is the mass of 1⁄256 pound or 1⁄16 ounce.[5]: C-6  The dram weighs 27+11⁄32 grains,[5]: C-6  or exactly 1.7718451953125 grams.[5]: C-14 

In the apothecaries' system, which was widely used in the United States until the middle of the 20th century,[15] the dram is the mass of 1⁄96 pounds apothecaries (lb ap), or 1⁄8 ounces apothecaries (oz ap or ℥)[5]: C-7  (the pound apothecaries and ounce apothecaries are equal to the troy pound (lb t), and troy ounce (oz t), respectively).[5]: C-6–C-7  The dram apothecaries is equal to 3 scruples (s ap or ℈) or 60 grains (gr),[5]: C-7  or exactly 3.8879346 grams.[5]: C-14 

"Dram" is also used as a measure of the powder charge in a shotgun shell, representing the equivalent of black powder in drams avoirdupois.[16]

Unit of volume

[edit]
A "wee dram", in Scotland the 35 ml measurement.

The fluid dram (or fluid drachm in British spelling[17]) is defined as 1⁄8 fluid ounce,[5]: C-5, C-7  and is equal to:

In the early 19th century, a teaspoonful had been considered equal to one fluid dram—60 minims[5]: C-5, C-7 —for medical prescriptions.[19] However, by 1876 the teaspoon had grown to 80–85 minims,[20] making the equivalence unsuitable for medicinal dosage.[20] Today's US teaspoon is equivalent to 4.92892159375 ml, which is also 1⁄6 US fluid ounces, 1+1⁄3 US fluid drams,[5]: C-18  or 80 US minims.[5]: C-5 

Pharmaceuticals are measured nowadays in metric units, but fluid drams are still used to measure the capacity of pill containers.

Dram is used informally to mean a small amount of liquor, especially Scotch whisky.[21][7] The unit is used in the phrase dram shop, the U.S. legal term for an establishment that serves alcoholic beverages.[22]

[edit]

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".[23] 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",[24][25] "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."[26]

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.

In the video game Caves of Qud water is used as the primary currency, being measured by the Dram.

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Dram (unit)

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from Grokipedia
The dram (abbreviated dr or apothecary symbol ʒ) is a historical unit of mass in the avoirdupois system and a unit of volume in the apothecaries' system of measurement. In the avoirdupois system, one dram equals 1/16 of an avoirdupois ounce, or exactly 27.34375 grains (approximately 1.7718 grams).[1] The fluid dram (or fl dr), used for liquid volume, is defined as 1/8 of a US fluid ounce, equivalent to exactly 3.696691 milliliters; an imperial fluid dram is 1/8 of an imperial fluid ounce, equivalent to approximately 3.5516 milliliters.[1] The term "dram" derives from the ancient Greek drachmē (δραχμή), originally denoting a silver coin that also served as a unit of weight, roughly the amount one could hold in a hand.[2] This evolved through Latin drachma and Old French dragme into Middle English by the 15th century, where it was adopted for both weight and fluid measures in apothecaries' and avoirdupois systems.[3] In the apothecaries' system for mass, distinct from avoirdupois, one dram equals 1/8 of an apothecaries' ounce (60 grains, or approximately 3.888 grams), reflecting its specialized use in pharmaceutical compounding.[1] Historically, the dram has been employed in medicine, cooking, and alcohol serving, with fluid drams rationed in small quantities—such as one-eighth of a fluid ounce, akin to two thimbles—for whiskey or other spirits in 19th-century American contexts.[4] Today, while largely superseded by metric units in scientific and international trade, the dram persists in some US customary applications, particularly in legacy recipes and apothecary notations, and colloquially refers to a small pour of liquor.[2] Equivalents include 16 avoirdupois drams per ounce and 8 fluid drams per fluid ounce, with 256 avoirdupois drams equaling one pound.[1]

Origins and etymology

Linguistic roots

The term "dram" originates from the ancient Greek word δραχμή (drakhmḗ), denoting a "handful" or the amount one could grasp in the hand, derived from the verb δράσσομαι (drássomai), meaning "to grasp" or "to take by the hand."[5] This etymological root reflects the practical origins of early measurement units based on human capacity.[6] The word evolved linguistically through Latin drachma, which retained the Greek form and sense of a small weight or coin, before passing into Old French as dragme or drame.[2] By the Middle English period, it appeared as dragme or dramme, establishing itself in English by the mid-15th century primarily as a unit of apothecaries' weight equivalent to one-eighth of an ounce.[3] This progression mirrors the transmission of Greco-Roman concepts through medieval European scholarship and trade.[7] In ancient Greece, the drachma functioned dually as a silver coin and a standard weight unit, with weights varying by region, such as the Attic standard of approximately 4.3 grams or the heavier Aeginetic standard of about 6.2 grams; this exerted significant influence on Roman metrology—where a similar drachma was adopted as 1/96 of a Roman pound—and later Byzantine systems that perpetuated these Hellenistic traditions in coinage and weighing practices.[5] Variations in spelling and pronunciation emerged across European languages, adapting the term to local phonetics and orthographies; for instance, it appears as dramma in Italian and Drachme in German, both preserving the core meaning as a minor unit of mass.[8]

Ancient usage

In ancient Greece, the drachma (or drachm) functioned as a primary unit of mass, integral to trade, coinage, and early pharmacological practices, with the Attic standard defining it at approximately 4.3 grams based on the silver content of the coin. This unit subdivided the mina into 100 drachmas, each comprising 6 obols, facilitating precise measurements in commercial exchanges across city-states like Athens.[9] Under Ptolemaic rule in Egypt, the drachma was adapted into the local weight system, where it equated to half a kite, a subdivision of the deben, weighing around 3.6 grams in this context to align with Hellenistic coinage standards. This integration supported cross-cultural trade along the Nile and Mediterranean, blending Egyptian metrology—such as the deben of about 91 grams divided into 10 kites—with Greek precision for commodities like grain and metals.[10] In the Roman Empire, the drachma persisted as a mass unit, varying between approximately 3.41 grams in the late Republic and early Empire to 4.5 grams in earlier eras, often tied to the denarius silver coin for economic transactions. It played a key role in apothecary practices, as evidenced in Hippocratic writings from the fifth century BCE, where drachms denoted medicinal dosages.[11] Regional variations emerged over time: in Ptolemaic Egypt, the drachma stabilized near 3.6 grams to standardize coinage and weights for administrative purposes; Byzantine adaptations maintained continuity through silver coins like the miliaresion, weighing about 2.8 grams; and in the early Islamic world, the dirham evolved as an adaptation of the drachma, weighing about 3.0 grams and serving as a basis for monetary and apothecary measurements in caliphates.[12][11][13] The drachma's prominence waned with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century CE, as fragmented polities shifted to local standards, but it endured in Eastern Mediterranean pharmacology through Arabic translations of Greek texts like those of Galen and Hippocrates, preserving drachm-based recipes in medieval Islamic medicine.[14]

Units of mass

Avoirdupois dram

The avoirdupois dram is a unit of mass in the avoirdupois weight system, defined as one-sixteenth of an avoirdupois ounce.[15] It equals exactly 27 11/32 grains or 1/256 of an avoirdupois pound.[15] This unit was standardized by the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824, which established uniform imperial standards for weights to facilitate commerce across the United Kingdom.[16] The conversion relations are 1 avoirdupois dram = (1/256) avoirdupois pound and 1 avoirdupois dram = 0.0625 avoirdupois ounce.[15] Following the 1959 international yard and pound agreement, the avoirdupois pound was defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms, making 1 avoirdupois dram exactly 1.7718451953125 grams.[17] Historically, the avoirdupois dram formed part of the system employed in weighing general merchandise as part of the common trade system for bulky goods.[18] The unit became largely obsolete in most countries following widespread metrication in the 1960s and 1970s, including the UK's adoption of metric standards under the Weights and Measures Act 1963 and subsequent regulations. However, it persists in limited United States customary contexts for legacy measurements, where avoirdupois units remain legally recognized alongside the metric system.[19] The symbol for the avoirdupois dram is typically "dr av" or "dr avdp" to distinguish it from other drams, though "dram" alone may be used in non-pharmaceutical settings.[20] Unlike the heavier apothecaries' dram, the avoirdupois dram served as a lighter alternative for everyday commercial purposes.[15]

Apothecaries' dram

The apothecaries' dram, also known as the drachm, is a unit of mass in the historical apothecaries' system, defined as one-eighth of an apothecaries' ounce or 60 grains exactly, equivalent to 3 scruples. This makes it equal to 1/96 of an apothecaries' pound, with a mass of approximately 3.888 grams. The unit was symbolized as "dr ap" or ʒ, distinguishing it from the lighter avoirdupois dram used in general trade. The apothecaries' dram originated in 16th-century European pharmacy practices and was adapted for precise compounding of medicinal substances, such as powders and elixirs. By the mid-16th century, English apothecaries had formalized its use within a system closely related to the troy weight, sharing the same grain (1/5760 of a troy pound), ounce (480 grains), and pound (5760 grains), though introducing unique subdivisions like the scruple (20 grains) and dram for pharmaceutical accuracy.[18] The system emphasized medical precision over commercial weighing, with the dram's heavier mass (compared to the avoirdupois equivalent of about 1.772 grams) ensuring reliable dosing of potent ingredients. The British Medical Act of 1858 mandated the publication of the British Pharmacopoeia and transferred oversight to the General Medical Council, promoting uniformity in medical practice across the United Kingdom.[21] The resulting 1864 Pharmacopoeia retained apothecaries' units for drug recipes, including dosing of pharmaceuticals, poisons, and herbal preparations. The dram facilitated exact measurements in apothecary recipes, where errors could be fatal, and was integral to pharmacopeial standards until the late 19th century. The apothecaries' dram was phased out in the United Kingdom with the adoption of metric units for medicines on January 1, 1971.[22] In the United States, it lingered in the United States Pharmacopeia until the 1971 edition fully transitioned to metric equivalents, marking the end of official use in modern pharmacopeia by the late 20th century.[23]

Units of volume

Fluid dram (US customary)

The fluid dram (US customary), also known as the US fluid dram, is a unit of volume defined as one-eighth of a US fluid ounce, equivalent to exactly 3.6966911953125 milliliters based on the 1893 international yard and pound standards established by the US Treasury Department.[24] It corresponds to 60 minims, the smallest unit in the apothecaries' system for liquids.[24] This unit relates to larger measures through the formula 1 US fluid dram = 1/1024 US gallon, or equivalently 0.125 US fluid ounces, reflecting the subdivision of the US liquid gallon into 128 fluid ounces and each ounce into eight drams.[24] The symbol for the fluid dram is "fl dr" or the apothecaries' notation "fʒ," while the minim is denoted "m."[24] Established as part of the US customary system in the early 19th century through the adoption of apothecaries' measures in the first US Pharmacopeia of 1820, the fluid dram was distinct from the mass-based dram and became a standard for precise liquid dosing in American pharmacy. It found primary application in the pharmacopeia for measuring liquid medicines, such as tinctures and elixirs, and occasionally in culinary recipes requiring small volumes.[25] Although still referenced in some FDA labeling regulations under 21 CFR 201.51 for expressions of liquid measure in customary units, the fluid dram is discouraged for new prescriptions in favor of metric units like milliliters to reduce dosing errors.[26] For context, one US teaspoon holds approximately 1.333 fluid drams.[27] This unit differs from its imperial counterpart due to the smaller size of the US gallon.[24]

Fluid dram (imperial)

The imperial fluid dram, also spelled fluid drachm, is a unit of volume equal to one-eighth of an imperial fluid ounce.[28] It corresponds to 60 minims and measures exactly 3.5516328125 millilitres.[29] The unit's symbol is typically "fl dr".[30] This measure was formalized under the Weights and Measures Act 1824, which established the imperial standards to unify liquid capacity across the United Kingdom, promoting consistency in fields such as pharmacy for dosing syrups and elixirs, and brewing for precise ingredient volumes.[16] In terms of larger units, one imperial fluid dram equals 1/1280 of an imperial gallon or 0.125 imperial fluid ounces, reflecting the system's subdivision where an imperial gallon contains 160 fluid ounces.[31] Historically used in Commonwealth countries for measuring small quantities of liquids like medicinal preparations, the imperial fluid dram has been largely supplanted by the millilitre following the United Kingdom's metrication policy adopted in 1965, though it persists in some historical recipes and archival pharmaceutical contexts.[32] Compared to the US customary fluid dram, the imperial version is approximately 4% smaller, stemming from the imperial gallon's greater volume of 4.546 litres versus the US gallon's 3.785 litres.[33]

Modern usage and cultural references

Contemporary applications

In the United States, the dram unit persists within the customary system primarily in pharmacy and culinary contexts despite ongoing metrication efforts. In pharmacy, fluid drams are referenced in legacy standards for measuring liquid volumes in prescriptions and compounding, though the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) has increasingly emphasized milliliters (mL) in updates, such as those in general chapters on dosage forms that prioritize SI units for precision and safety. For example, fluid drams were historically used to denote volumes like 3.7 mL in apothecary calculations, but modern guidelines favor metric equivalents to reduce errors. In the United States, the fluid dram continues to be used to label the volume capacity of pharmaceutical containers, such as pill vials, despite dosing instructions being in metric units.[1] In cooking, drams appear in recipes for flavorings, such as 1 dram of vanilla extract or super-strength oils in candy-making, where small bottles are calibrated to this unit for accurate dosing of potent ingredients.[25][34] In the United Kingdom and European Union, the dram has been obsolete as a primary unit since the Weights and Measures Act 1985, which restricts its use in trade to supplementary indications alongside mandatory metric units, with no official SI equivalence defined but conversions required for compliance. Schedule 1, Part VI of the Act explicitly lists the dram and fluid drachm (an archaic variant) as permissible only as secondary markings, ensuring metric prominence to align with EU directives on unified measurements. This regulatory shift reflects broader metrication, rendering drams non-standard for commercial transactions while allowing their notation in specialized or historical packaging. Internationally, dram usage is rare following metrication in most countries, confining drams to occasional legacy applications in niche trades or education rather than routine practice.[35] Globalization has highlighted challenges with the dram, particularly confusion between mass (avoirdupois or apothecaries' dram) and volume (fluid dram), contributing to dosing errors in medication administration. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warnings on such ambiguities, noting cases where misinterpretation led to overdoses, such as administering 5 drams of concentrated liquid instead of the intended milliliters, prompting recommendations for metric-only labeling. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has documented fatal incidents involving dram-marked dosing cups, urging elimination of these units to prevent scale confusion in healthcare settings.[36][37] Modern software and conversion tools facilitate dram-to-metric transitions, with online calculators enabling quick shifts from drams to grams or mL for practical applications in pharmacy and cooking. However, educational resources from bodies like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) stress SI units as the global standard, promoting their exclusive use in curricula to minimize errors and support international consistency. These tools underscore the dram's transitional role, aiding legacy systems while reinforcing metric primacy in professional training.[38][35]

In popular culture

The dram unit has left a notable imprint in 19th-century literature, where it frequently symbolizes precise, often medicinal or intoxicating, portions. In Charles Dickens' novel Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), the character Mark Tapley consumes a "fiery dram" of spirits to steady himself after an intense exchange, reflecting the era's casual use of the term for a small alcoholic measure.[39] In poetry, the dram evokes themes of precision and ephemerality. Emily Dickinson's untitled poem (c. 1862), later known as "I tasted life," employs the phrase "A single Dram of Heaven" to convey a fleeting taste of transcendence amid life's burdens, drawing on the unit's connotation of a minute yet potent quantity. The idiomatic expression "a dram of whisky" persists in Scottish folklore and bar culture, denoting a small, sociable pour of whisky—roughly equivalent to one-eighth of a gill or 25-35 ml—though it has evolved beyond the strict apothecaries' fluid dram into a flexible symbol of hospitality and tradition.[40] This usage traces back to the unit's historical role in measuring spirits for medicinal or recreational purposes, as seen in 19th-century taverns. In the United States, the term "dram" in whisky contexts often refers to a larger pour of 1 to 1.5 US fluid ounces (approximately 30–44 ml), frequently aligning with standard bar shot sizes or "large jigger" measures. This contrasts with Scottish and Irish traditions, where a dram typically denotes a smaller, more traditional pour of 25–35 ml (about 0.8–1.2 oz), emphasizing a "wee dram" as a modest, sociable amount. These variations illustrate how the term has evolved from the strict apothecaries' fluid dram (1/8 oz or ~3.7 ml) into a flexible cultural expression for whisky serving, influenced by local bar practices and preferences. In media, the dram features in period dramas recreating historical practices. The BBC series Victorian Pharmacy (2010) depicts apothecaries compounding remedies using drams as a standard volume unit, underscoring its centrality to 19th-century pharmacology and everyday health rituals. Modern shows occasionally allude to it in chemistry contexts, evoking precision in scientific or illicit preparations. Contemporary pop culture revives the dram through discussions of obsolete measurements. For instance, the 2019 podcast episode "Wet Your Whistle" from Bunny Trails examines the dram's medicinal origins in alcohol dosing, blending history with humor about archaic units. In video games like historical simulations, players encounter drams in alchemy or puzzle mechanics requiring exact measurements, reinforcing the unit's legacy of meticulousness. The dram also appears in online memes lampooning imperial system's quirks, such as exaggerated conversions of tiny weights to highlight metric superiority.

References

  1. None
  2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dram
  3. Dram - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
  4. Drams and Gills (U.S. National Park Service)
  5. Drachma - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
  6. Drachma - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com
  7. dram - American Heritage Dictionary Entry
  8. English-German translation for "dram" - Langenscheidt
  9. Hellenistic Currency Systems in the Kelsey: The Ptolemies, Part I
  10. Weights, Measures, Money - UC Classics
  11. The Roman/Byzantine and the Islamic Weight Systems - Two sides ...
  12. (PDF) Commercial Weight Standards in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt
  13. Weights and Measures in Islam - Academia.edu
  14. Transmission of Pharmacological Knowledge (Part I) - Drugs in the ...
  15. [PDF] 2011 Appendix C – General Tables of Units of Measurement C-1
  16. [PDF] Original - Legislation.gov.uk
  17. [PDF] Appendix B. Units and Systems of Measurement Their Origin ...
  18. Weights - The University of Nottingham
  19. [DOC] https://www.nist.gov/document/2023-nist-handbook-4...
  20. [PDF] 2023 NIST Handbook 44 Appendix C
  21. Medical Act 1858 - Legislation.gov.uk
  22. https://metrication.uk/more/timeline/
  23. Guide to apothecaries' weights
  24. [PDF] Appendix E. General Tables of Units of Measurement
  25. 7 Systems of Measurement and Introduction to Pharmaceutical ...
  26. 21 CFR 201.51 -- Declaration of net quantity of contents. - eCFR
  27. Convert Dram to Teaspoon (US)
  28. fluid drachm (imperial) :: unit - Conversion.org
  29. https://www.unitconversion.org/volume/dram-conversion.html
  30. The Imperial Units - Online Conversion
  31. Traditional Units of Volume
  32. UK metric timeline
  33. Convert dram [dr] to milliliter [ml] • Volume and Common Cooking ...
  34. Science of Cooking: Lollipops Recipe: What's Going On?
  35. Busting Myths about the Metric System | NIST
  36. Error-Prone Units of Measure and Device Markings - Pharmacy Times
  37. [PDF] Eliminate dosage cups that measure liquids in fluid drams ... - ISMP
  38. Convert dram to GRAMS - Conversion of Measurement Units
  39. The Project Gutenberg eBook of Masterpieces Of Mystery, Edited by ...
  40. https://topwhiskies.com/blogs/whisky-blog/why-measure-called-dram
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