The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Pound \Pound\, n.; pl. Pounds, collectively Pound or
Pounds. [AS. pund, fr. L. pondo, akin to pondus a weight,
pendere to weigh. See Pendant.]
1. A certain specified measure of mass or weight; especially,
a legal standard consisting of an established number of
ounces.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The pound in general use in the United States and in
England is the pound avoirdupois, which is divided
into sixteen ounces, and contains 7,000 grains (0.453
kilogram). The pound troy is divided into twelve
ounces, and contains 5,760 grains. 144 pounds
avoirdupois are equal to 175 pounds troy weight. See
Avoirdupois, and Troy.
[1913 Webster]
2. A British denomination of money of account, equivalent to
twenty shillings sterling, and equal in value to about
$4.86 in 1900 and $1.50 in 2002. The modern pound coin was
introduced in 1983. Formerly there was a gold sovereign of
the same value.
[1913 Webster + PJC]
Note: The pound sterling was in Saxon times, about a. d. 671,
a pound troy of silver, and a shilling was its
twentieth part; consequently the latter was three times
as large as it is at present. --Peacham.
[1913 Webster]