# Quintal > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Quintal > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Quintal.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintal > Source revision: 1342756365 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Historical unit of mass (hundredweight variant)}} {{other uses}} {{use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} {{more citations needed|date=July 2017}} The '''quintal''' or '''centner''' is a historical unit of [mass](/source/mass) in many countries that is usually defined as 100 base units, such as [pound](/source/pound_(mass))s or [kilogram](/source/kilogram)s.{{cite web |last1=Rowlett |first1=Russ |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/units/dictQ.html#quintal |title=How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement |website=ibiblio |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |access-date=25 March 2020 |date=2018 }} It is a traditional unit of weight in France, Portugal, and Spain and their former colonies. It is commonly used for [grain](/source/grain) prices in wholesale markets in Ethiopia, Eritrea and India, where 1 quintal = {{convert|100|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}.{{cite book|title=Quintal - Merriam Webster Dictionary|publisher=Merriam Webster Dictionary|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quintal|access-date=20 June 2017}} In [British English](/source/British_English), it referred to the [hundredweight](/source/hundredweight); in [American English](/source/American_English), it formerly referred to an [uncommon measurement](/source/Metric_Act_of_1866) of {{convert|100|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}. {{anchor|Etymology}} Languages drawing its cognate name for the weight from [Romance languages](/source/Romance_languages) include French, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish {{lang|fr|quintal}}, Italian {{lang|it|quintale}}, Esperanto {{lang|eo|kvintalo}}, Polish {{lang|pl|kwintal}}. Languages taking their cognates from Germanicized ''centner'' include the German {{lang|de|[Zentner](/source/Zentner)}}, Lithuanian {{lang|lt|centneris}}, Swedish {{lang|sv|centner}}, Polish {{lang|pl|cetnar}}, Russian and Ukrainian {{lang|ru|центнер}} ({{lang|uk-Latn|tsentner}}) and Estonian {{lang|et|tsentner}}. Many European languages have come to translate both the [British](/source/imperial_units) [hundredweight](/source/hundredweight) (8 stone or {{convert|112|lb|kg|2|disp=sqbr}}) and the [American](/source/US_customary_units) [hundredweight](/source/hundredweight) ({{convert|100|lb|kg|2|disp=sqbr}}), as their cognate form of ''quintal'' or ''centner''. == Name == {{Wiktionary}} The concept has resulted in two different series of masses: Those based on the local pound (which after [metrication](/source/metrication) was considered equivalent to {{convert|0.5|kg|abbr=on}}, and those uprated to being based on the kilogram. In Albania ({{lang|sq|kuintal}}), Ethiopia ({{lang|am-Latn|kuntal}}), and [India](/source/India), the {{convert|100|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} definition may have been introduced via Islamic{{Citation needed|reason=and why not occidental influence|date=June 2019}} trade. It is a standard measurement of mass for agricultural products in those countries. In France it used to be defined as 100 {{lang|fr|livres}} (pounds), about {{convert|48.95|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}, and has been redefined as 100 kg ({{lang|fr|[mesures usuelles](/source/mesures_usuelles)}}), thus called ''metric quintal'' with symbol ''qq''. In [Spain](/source/Spain), the {{lang|es|quintal}} is still defined as 100 {{lang|es|libras}}, or about {{convert|46|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}, but the ''metric quintal'' is also defined as 100 kg;[Real Academia Española](/source/Real_Academia_Espa%C3%B1ola)'s [http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=quintal definition of ''quintal''] In Portugal a quintal is 128 {{lang|pt|[arráteis](/source/arr%C3%A1tel)}} or about {{convert|58.75|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}. The German {{lang|de|[Zentner](/source/%3Ade%3AZentner)}} and the Danish {{lang|da|[centner](/source/%3Ada%3ACentner)}} are pound-based, and thus since metrication are defined as {{convert|50|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}, whereas the Austrian and Swiss {{lang|de|Zentner}} since metrication has been re-defined as 100 kg. In Germany a measure of 100 kg is named a {{lang|de|Doppelzentner}}. In Italy, the {{lang|it|[quintale](/source/%3Ait%3AQuintale)}} is commonly used to refer to 100 kg and is abbreviated to ''q'', but the usage is considered informal and is not considered legally valid since 1990.{{Cite web | title=quintale su Enciclopedia {{!}} Sapere.it | url=https://www.sapere.it/enciclopedia/quintale.html | access-date=2025-08-24 | website=www.sapere.it}} Common agricultural units used in the [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union) were the 100 kg {{lang|ru-Latn|tsentner}} ({{lang|ru|центнер}}) and the term "{{lang|ru-Latn|tsentner}} per [hectare](/source/hectare)". These are still used by countries that were part of the Soviet Union. == English use == In [English units of measurement](/source/English_units_of_measurement) both terms ''quintal'' and ''centner'' were once alternative names for the [hundredweight](/source/hundredweight) and thus defined either as {{cvt|100|lb|2}} or as {{cvt|112|lb|2}}. Also, in the [Dominican Republic](/source/Dominican_Republic) it is about {{cvt|125|lb|2}}. The German {{lang|de|Zentner}} was introduced to the English language via [Hanseatic trade](/source/Hanseatic_League) as a measure of the weight of certain crops including [hops](/source/hops) for [beer](/source/beer) production. Commonly used in the Dominion (and later province) of [Newfoundland](/source/Newfoundland_and_Labrador) up until the 1960s as a measure for 112 lb of [salt cod](/source/salt_cod). The '''quintal''' was defined in the United States in 1866[https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/205- Act of July 28, 1866, codified in 15 U.S.C. §205] as {{convert|100|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}. However, it is no longer used in the United States or by the [National Institute of Standards and Technology](/source/National_Institute_of_Standards_and_Technology) (NIST), though it still appears in the statute."Metric System of Measurement: Interpretation of the International System of Units for the United States", [Federal Register](/source/Federal_Register) notice of July 28, 1998, 63 F.R. 40333 {{cite web |url=http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/200/202/SIFedReg.pdf |title=Metric System of Measurement: Interpretation of the International System of Units for the United States; Notice |publisher=[NIST](/source/NIST) |access-date=September 28, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930114423/http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/200/202/SIFedReg.pdf |archive-date=September 30, 2006 }} In France, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Indonesia, and India, it is still in daily use by farmers. It is also used in [Brazil](/source/Brazil) and other South American countries and in some African countries including [Angola](/source/Angola).{{cite web|title=The use of Quintal for weight measurements |url=https://www.sizes.com/units/quintal.htm |website=Sizes: the online quantinary |access-date=25 July 2017 }} == See also == * [''Kasson Act'' (1866)](/source/Metric_Act_of_1866) * [Hundredweight](/source/Hundredweight) * {{lang|de|[Zentner](/source/Zentner)}} == References == {{reflist}} {{Authority control}} Category:Units of mass Category:Non-SI metric units Category:Customary units of measurement Category:Metricated units [ur:قنطار](/source/ur%3A%D9%82%D9%86%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%B1) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Quintal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintal) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintal?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.