pint

pint, unit of capacity in the British Imperial and U.S. Customary systems of measurement. In the British system the units for dry measure and liquid measure are identical; the single British pint is equal to 34.68 cubic inches (568.26 cubic cm) or one-eighth gallon. In the United States the unit for dry measure is slightly different from that for liquid measure; a U.S. dry pint is 33.6 cubic inches (550.6 cubic cm), while a U.S. liquid pint is 28.9 cubic inches (473.2 cubic cm). In each system, two cups make a pint, and two pints equal a quart.

A U.S. liquid pint holds 1.042 pounds of water at room temperature, a fact that gave rise to the saying “a pint’s a pound the world around.” The pint has been a common unit of measure in Great Britain since the 14th century. The actual volume of the pint, however, has varied considerably over the years; in the medieval and early modern British Isles it varied from 0.446 to 1.887 litres.