The ounce is a unit of mass (acceptable for use as weight on Earth) and is part of the imperial system of units. It has the symbol oz.
Not to be confused with a fluid ounce (fl oz; volume) or an ounce-force (force), the ounce is the smallest of the 3 denominations of weight used in the imperial system. There are 16 ounces in a pound and 14 pounds in a stone.
The strict name for this unit is the avoirdupois ounce and in SI / metric terms it is equivalent to approximately 28.3g.
Ounces are used to indicate the weight of fabrics in Asia, the UK and North America. For example, 16 oz denim. The number refers to weight of the fabric in ounces.
The ounce was no longer seen as a legal unit of measure after the year 2000 in the UK. However, it is still used informally and is also used as the measure for portion sizes in restaurants in the UK.
The pound is a unit of mass (acceptable for use as weight on Earth) and is part of the imperial system of units. It has the symbol lb.
Not to be confused with a number of other definitions, the most common is international avoirdupois pound. The avoirdupois pound is defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms and is divided into 16 avoirdupois ounces.
One of the most common uses of the pound is in measuring the mass / weight of human beings or animals. When introduced, sports athletes such as boxers or wrestlers are described by their weight in pounds before any other characteristic as it helps people visualise how big / powerful they are.
The unit pounds originated from the Roman ‘libra’ (hence the abbreviated ‘lb’). The libra, which is Latin for scales or balance, was an ancient Roman unit used to measure mass and was equivalent to approximately 328.9 grams. The libra was originally split into 12 ounces (or unciae).
Random fact: Some cannons, such as the Smoothbore cannon, are based on the imperial pounds of circular solid iron balls of the diameters that fit the barrels. For example, a cannon that fires 12-pound ball is called a twelve-pounder.