quintal

(q)

   1.  a traditional unit of weight in France, Portugal, and Spain. Quintal is also the generic name for a historic unit used in commerce throughout Europe and the Arab world for more than 2000 years. The unit began as the Latin centenarius, meaning "comprised of 100" because it was equal to 100 Roman pounds. The centenarius passed into Arabic as the cantar or qintar and then returned to Europe through Arab traders in the form quintal. The German zentner and English hundredweight are familiar forms of this same unit in northern Europe. The traditional French quintal equaled 100 livres (48.95 kilograms or 107.9 pounds), but today the word "quintal" in France usually means a larger metric unit (see next entry). The Spanish quintal is 100 libras (about 46 kilograms or 101 pounds). The Portuguese quintal is larger; it is equal to 128 libras (about 129.5 pounds or 58.75 kilograms). "Kwintal" is the English pronunciation given in standard English dictionaries, but "kintal" (closer to the Spanish pronunciation) and "kantal" (closer to the French) are also used.

   2.  a common metric unit of mass equal to 100 kilograms or approximately 220.4623 pounds. Notice that the metric ton is roughly equal to its non-metric predecessors, but the metric quintal is about twice the size of the traditional quintal.