Pint

The pint ['paɪnt] ( listen^{? /i}) is an old, in the Anglo-American system of measurement, but still widespread room measure both for liquids and - especially in the Anglo-American system of measurement - for dry measures. A pint in Great Britain and Ireland corresponds to 0.5683 litres, a pint in the USA to 0.4732 litres.

With typical pint glasses, there are no pouring measurements, but a pint is reached when the rim of the glass is completed.

Units and measurements

Unit symbols (unofficial): Imp. pt., US dry pt., US liq. pt.

• 1 Imp. pt. (Great Britain and Ireland) = 4 gill = 20 imperial fluid ounces = 34.67743125 inch³ = 568.26128524935 cm³ (ml)

1 Imp. gallon = 8 Imp. pt.

• 1 US liq. pt. = 4 liq. gill = 16 US fluid ounces = 28.875 inch³ = 473.176473 cm³.

1 US gallon = 8 US pt.

• 1 US dry pt. = 33.6003125 inch³ = 550.6104713575 cm³.

1 bushel = 8 corn gallon = 64 US dry pt.

• 20,000 Imp. pt. = 24019 US liq. pt.

1 Imp. pt. = 1.20095 US liq. pt.

• 5,376,050 Imp. pt. = 5548389 US dry pt.

1 Imp. pt. ≈ 1.032057 US dry pt.

• 92,400 US dry pt. = 107,521 US liq. pt.

1 dry pt. ≈ 1.163647 US liq. pt.

• 1 metric pint = 2 metric cup = 500 cm³ = 0.5 litre

The Scottish pint had divergent values:

• 1 Pinte = 82.25 Paris cubic inches = 1.6303 litres

The French pinte was regionally different:

• Paris: 1 pinte (single) = 46.05 Paris cubic inches
• Paris for milk 1 pinte = 92.1 Paris cubic inches (after the revolution 1.5 times pinte (single))
• Saint-Denis: 1 pinte = 73.875 Parisian cubic inches
• Saint-Maur: 1 Pinte = 84 Parisian cubic inches
• Laugey (?): 1 pinte = 69.535 Parisian cubic inches

A half pinte was called a chopine, a quarter pinte a demi-fetier or 1/5 posson, and a tenth pinte a demi-posson.

Usage

Beer and cider, among other things, are still served by the pint and half-pint in the United Kingdom. Milk is also available in the United Kingdom in both pint and metric retail quantities, depending on the producer.

The standard volume of electric kettles, which first became popular, particularly in the UK, is nominally 1.7 litres, but actually 3 pints. Even coffee machines for the catering trade marketed in the EU by American manufacturers often have water tanks with "crooked" (i.e. measured in liquid pints) volumes.

In Australia, since the changeover to the metric system, the half litre is referred to as the (metric) pint, as it has been in the French restaurant trade since the early 2000s. Beer in Australia is now served in 570 ml glasses, which is close to the original 568 ml of the Imperial Pint, in South Australia also in 425 ml glasses.

In Germany, dispensing measures in centilitres and litres are common. The volume indication "pint" or "pint" is not permissible for commercial dispensing (§ 27 of the Ordinance on Measurement and Calibration).

Colloquially, the word "Pinte" is often used in German as a synonym for the term pub. In Flanders, pint means a pilsner, served in 250 ml glasses. In Cologne, the pint developed as a unit of measurement for alcoholic beverages.