This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)

The dram (archaic spelling drachm; apothecary symbol ℨ) was historically both a coin and a weight. Currently it is both a small mass in the Apothecaries' system of weights and a small unit of volume. This unit is called more correctly fluid dram or in contraction also fluidram.

[edit] Ancient unit of mass

• The Greek drachm is a weight of ¹⁄₁₀₀ Greek mine, which is about 4.37 grams.
• The Roman drachm is a weight of ¹⁄₉₆ Roman pounds, which is about 3.41 grams.

Greek and Roman drachm are related by the approximate ratio 25 : 32.

The Ottoman dirhem is based on the Sassanian drachm is itself based on the Roman dram/drachm. Modern Armenian drams, the currency of the Republic of Armenia, share this origin.

[edit] Modern unit of mass

In the avoirdupois system, the dram is the mass of ¹⁄₂₅₆ pound or ¹⁄₁₆ ounce. So the dram weighs ⁸⁷⁵⁄₃₂ grains or exactly 1.771 845 195 3125 grams.

The dram (symbol: ʒ) is also the mass of ¹⁄₉₆ pound (℔) or ¹⁄₆ ounce (℥) in the apothecaries' system that survived until the middle of the 20th century in English-speaking countries. It is equal to 3 scruples (℈) or 60 grains (G). Thus, it is equal to exactly 3.887 9346 grams.

[edit] Unit of volume

The fluid dram is defined as ¹⁄₈ of a fluid ounce, which means it is exactly equal to

• 3.696 691 195 312 5 mL in the United States and
• 3.551 632 812 500 0 mL in the Commonwealth and Ireland.

In the United Kingdom, a teaspoon was formerly defined as 3/2 fluid dram.

Dram is also used informally to mean a small amount of liquid, especially Scotch whisky.

"Dram" is also used as a measure of the powder charge in a shotgun shell.

[edit] See also

Look up dram in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Avoirdupois
• Imperial unit
• U.S. customary units