hundredweight
noun
hundredweight is spelled H-U-N-D-R-E-D-W-E-I-G-H-T: 13 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 111,684th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hundredweight means “A unit of measurement containing 100 avoirdupois pounds (about 45.4 kg)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hundredweight is hundredweights.
How many letters and syllables are in hundredweight?
| Letters | 13: H-U-N-D-R-E-D-W-E-I-G-H-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 14 million words; the 111,684th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hundredweight?
Hundredweight appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 111,684th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hundredweight?
- US
Hundredweight has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-hundredweight.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hundredweight
- hundredweights plural
- cwt.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hundredweight mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
CanadaUSA unit of measurement containing 100 avoirdupois pounds (about 45.4 kg).
- 2
UKA unit of measurement containing 112 avoirdupois pounds (eight stone or about 50.8 kg).
- 3
Synonym of quintal, a unit of measurement containing various amounts depending on the objects weighed.
- 4
Various units of ancient measurement systems consisting of 100 units usually translated as "pounds".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate hundredweight?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of hundredweight: cwt..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hundredweight in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense unit of one hundred pounds:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hundredweight come from?
16th century, from hundred + weight.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).