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Dram (unit)

( Units Of Mass )

Ancient unit of mass
British unit of mass
Modern unit of mass
Unit of volume
In popular culture
Notes
References
External links

C O N T E N T S

Apothecaries Drachm Dram Unit

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The dram (alternative British spelling drachm; apothecary symbol Ezh or ℨ; abbreviated dr) Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary, 1897.National Institute of Standards and Technology (October 2011). Butcher, Tina; Cook, Steve; Crown, Linda et al. eds. "Appendix C – General Tables of Units of Measurement" (PDF). Specifications, Tolerances, and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices. NIST Handbook. 44 (2012 ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, Technology Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology. ISSN 0271-4027. OCLC . Retrieved 1 July 2012.

Mary Jo Boyer (2025). 9780781763356, Wolters Kluwer Health Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. . ISBN 9780781763356

is a unit of mass in the avoirdupois system, and both a unit of mass and a unit of volume in the apothecaries' system. It was originally both a coin and a weight in ancient Greece. The unit of volume is more correctly called a fluid dram, fluid drachm, fluidram or fluidrachm (abbreviated fl dr, ƒ 3, or fʒ).

Ancient unit of mass

The Attic Greek drachma (δραχμή) was a weight of 6 obols, Greek mina, or about 4.37 .
Donald J. Mastronarde (1993). 9780520078444, University of California Press. . ISBN 9780520078444
The Roman drachma was a weight of Roman pounds, or about 3.41 grams.

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

British unit of mass

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:

dram now meant only avoirdupois drams, which were 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 of an apothecaries' ounce of 480 grains, or equal to 60 grains.

Modern unit of mass

In the avoirdupois system, the dram is the mass of pound or ounce. The dram weighs grains, or exactly grams.

In the apothecaries' system, which was widely used in the United States until the middle of the 20th century, the dram is the mass of pounds apothecaries (lb ap), or ounces apothecaries (oz ap or ℥) (the pound apothecaries and ounce apothecaries are equal to the troy pound (lb t), and troy ounce (oz t), respectively). The dram apothecaries is equal to or , or exactly grams.

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

(2008). 9781599213309, Globe Pequot. . ISBN 9781599213309

Unit of volume

The fluid dram (or fluid drachm in British spelling) is defined as fluid ounce, and is equal to:

in the U.S. customary system
in the Imperial units
(1995). 9780110533346, HMSO. . ISBN 9780110533346

In the early 19th century, a teaspoonful had been considered equal to one fluid dram—60 minims—for medical prescriptions. Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary, 1911. However, by 1876 the teaspoon had grown to 80–85 minims, making the equivalence unsuitable for medicinal dosage. Today's US teaspoon is equivalent to 4.92892159375 ml, which is also US fluid ounces, US fluid drams, or 80 US minims.

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

Dram is used informally to mean a small amount of liquor, especially Scotch whisky. Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary, 1897. The unit is used in the phrase dram shop, the U.S. legal term for an establishment that serves alcoholic beverages.

In popular culture

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". In the Monty Python song "The Bruces' Philosophers Song", there is the line "Thomas 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",Brown, John. Gie the fiddler a dram. Rec. May 1939 by Herbert Halpert. Lib. of Cong.[measures of liquids sect.] "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."

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.

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