pint

The pint is a unit of volume used in the British imperial and United States customary measurement systems. It is primarily associated with liquids and is a common unit for serving beverages such as beer and milk, though it also appears in everyday measurements of fluid volume.

Sizes and definitions: In the British imperial system, the pint equals 568.261 milliliters (about 0.568 liters) or 20 imperial fluid ounces. In the United States customary system, the liquid pint equals 473.176 milliliters (about 0.473 liters) or 16 US fluid ounces. The United States also has a separate dry pint, defined as 550.610 milliliters (about 0.551 liters) as 1/8 of a US dry gallon; this is used for dry commodities rather than liquids.

Usage and culture: In the United Kingdom and many other Commonwealth countries, pubs and shops commonly measure beer, cider, and other beverages by the pint. In the United States, a pint is a standard size for beer and other drinks and is widely used in both servings and packaging, including take-out containers.

History and name: The term pint derives from Old French and medieval English measurement terminology, evolving as the dominant unit for liquid volume in the two main traditional systems. The exact linguistic history is complex, but the word has long signified a unit of capacity that split into different sizes in the imperial and U.S. systems.

See also: Gallon, Fluid ounce, Liter, Measurement systems.