Standard Lemma guide

ton

noun · 17 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /tʌn/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Ireland, Northern-England: /tʊn/
  • rhymes with -ʌn
  • UK: /tɔ̃/
  • UK: /tɒn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: T AH1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of various units of mass, originally notionally equal to the contents of a tun

The short ton of 2000 pounds (about 907 kg), 20 hundredweights of 100 pounds avoirdupois each.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any of various units of mass, originally notionally equal to the contents of a tun

The long ton of 2240 pounds (about 1016 kg), 20 hundredweights of 112 pounds avoirdupois each.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Any of various units of mass, originally notionally equal to the contents of a tun

The metric ton of 1000 kilograms (about 2205 lb), 10 quintals of 100 kilograms each.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tonne, metric ton, megagram

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Any of various units of volume, originally notionally equal to the contents of a tun

The measurement ton of (US) 40 or (UK) 42 cubic feet (about 1.1 or 1.2 m3).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Any of various units of volume, originally notionally equal to the contents of a tun

The register ton of 100 cubic feet (about 2.83 m3).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Any large, excessive, or overwhelming amount of anything.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

Examples

  • I’ve got a ton of work to do.
  • I've got tons of work to do.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: shitton, fuckton, abundance, battalion, arseload, assload, bellyload, boatload, brimful, busload, bucketful, bucketload, butt-ton, bumload, buttload, cartload, crapflood, crapload, deal, fuckload, fuckwad, gob, great deal, hantle, heap, hecatomb, helluvalot, horseload, lashings, load, lot, mampus, many, mass, metric fuckton, metric shitload, mickle, mountain, muckle, multiplicity, multitude, pile, ream, shedload, shitflood, shitful, shitload, sight, slew, spadeloads, sum, superflux, ton, trainload, truckload, tun, vaultful, wagonload

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A unit of thermal power equal to 12,000 BTU/h (about 3.5 kW), approximating the idealized rate of cooling provided by uniform isothermal melting of 1 short ton of ice per day at 0°C.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Their main problem is that they somehow believe that a 12-ton unit can handle this entire building.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ton of refrigeration, refrigeration ton, TR, RT

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

Synonym of hundred

100 pounds sterling.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, colloquial

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

Synonym of hundred

100 points.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, colloquial, usually

Topics: ball-games, darts, games, hobbies, lifestyle, snooker, sports

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tonne

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

Synonym of hundred

100 runs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, colloquial

Topics: ball-games, cricket, games, hobbies, lifestyle, sports

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: century

Antonyms: none provided

11

noun

Meaning 11

Synonym of hundred

A speed of 100 mph (160 km/h).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, colloquial

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

Fashion, the current style, the vogue.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

noun

Meaning 13

Fashionable society; those in style.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

14

noun

Meaning 14

Synonym of tunny, particularly the common tunny or horse mackerel.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tunny, particularly the common tunny or horse mackerel

Antonyms: none provided

15

noun

Meaning 15

Initialism of threshold odor number.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

16

noun

Meaning 16

a British unit of weight equivalent to 2240 pounds

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: long ton, gross ton

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: avoirdupois unit

17

noun

Meaning 17

a United States unit of weight equivalent to 2000 pounds

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: short ton, net ton

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: avoirdupois unit

History

Etymology

Variant of tun (“cask”), influenced by Old French tonne (“ton”).

Borrowed from French ton (“manner”), from Latin tonus. Doublet of tone, tune, and tonus.

Across languages

Translations

104 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: ton — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Albanian: tonelatë — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Arabic: طُن (ṭun) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Armenian: տոննա (tonna) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Azerbaijani: ton — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Belarusian: то́на (tóna) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Bengali: টন (ṭon) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Bulgarian: тон (ton) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Burmese: တန် (tan) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Chinese Mandarin: 噸 /吨 (dūn, dùn) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Chinese Mandarin: 公噸 /公吨 (gōngdūn, gōngdùn) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Czech: tuna — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Danish: ton — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Dutch: ton — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Esperanto: tuno — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Estonian: tonn — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Faroese: tons — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Finnish: tonni — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • French: tonne — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Georgian: ტონა (ṭona) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • German: Tonne — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Greek: τόνος (tónos) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Hebrew: טוֹן (ton) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Hebrew: טוֹנָה (tóna) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Hindi: टन (ṭan) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Hungarian: tonna — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Icelandic: tonn — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Ido: tuno — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Indonesian: ton — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Italian: tonnellata — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Japanese: トン (ton) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Kazakh: тонна (tonna) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Khmer: តោន (taon) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Khmer: តូន (toun) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Korean: 톤 (ton) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Kyrgyz: тонна (tonna) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Lao: ຕັນ (tan) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Lao: ໂຕນ (tōn) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Latvian: tonna — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Lithuanian: tona — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Lü: ᦎᧃ (ṫan) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Lü: ᦎᦷᧃ (ṫon) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Macedonian: тон (ton) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Malay: tan — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Mongolian: тонн (tonn) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Mongolian: ᠲ᠋ᠣᠨ (ton) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Norman: tonné — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Norwegian Bokmål: tonn — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Pashto: ټن (ṭan) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Dari: تَن (tan) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Iranian Persian: تُن (ton) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Polish: tona — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Portuguese: tonelada — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Romanian: tonă — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Russian: то́нна (tónna) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Serbo-Croatian: то̏на — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Serbo-Croatian: tȍna — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Sinhalese: ටොන් (ṭon) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Slovak: tona — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Slovene: ton — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Spanish: tonelada — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Swahili: tani — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Swedish: ton — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Tagalog: tonelada — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Tajik: тонна (tonna) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Tatar: тонн (tonn) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Tatar: тонна (tonna) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Thai: ตัน (dtan) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Thai: โตน (dtoon) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Northern Thai: ᨲᩢ᩠ᨶ — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Northern Thai: ᨲᩰᩫ᩠ᨶ — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Turkish: ton — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Turkmen: tonna — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Ukrainian: то́нна (tónna) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Urdu: ٹَن (ṭan) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Uyghur: توننا (tonna) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Uzbek: tonna — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Vietnamese: tấn — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Yiddish: טאַן (tan) — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Yoruba: tọ́ọ̀nù — various units of mass notionally equivalent to a tun
  • Finnish: läjäpäin — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • French: tonne — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • French: flopée — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Hungarian: rengeteg — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Hungarian: (egy) rakás — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Hungarian: (egy) halom — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Hungarian: egy csomó — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Russian: куча (kuča) — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Spanish: a base de bien — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Spanish: a cholón — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Spanish: a cascoporro — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Spanish: a porrillo — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Spanish: a espuertas — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Spanish: a mansalva — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Spanish: a punta de pala — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Spanish: a patadas — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Swedish: ton — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Swedish: tonvis — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Tagalog: tone-tonelada — any hyperbolically or oppressively large amount
  • Hungarian: száz mérföld per óra — slang: speed of 100 mph
  • Finnish: satanen — slang: £100
  • Finnish: satku — slang: £100
  • Finnish: huntti — slang: £100
  • Hungarian: száz font — slang: £100