Pl. unciæ. [L. uncia a twelfth part (spec. of a pound or foot): see INCH sb.1 and OUNCE sb.1]
† 1. Math. (See quot. 1704.) Obs.
1695. Phil. Trans., XIX. 60. That admirable Invention of Mr. Newton, whereby he determines the Unciæ or Numbers prefixt to the Members composing Powers.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., I. Unciæ, in Algebra, signify those Numbers which are prefixed before the Letters of the Members of any Power produced from a Binomial, Residual, or Multinomial Root.
1763. W. Emerson, Meth. Increments, 106. Where the numeral coefficients are the unciæ of the several powers of a binomial.
2. A Roman copper coin, equal in value to the twelfth part of the ‘as.’
1834. Penny Cycl., II. 431/2. The Uncia,… or piece of one ounce, is marked by a single globule.
1853. Humphreys, Coin-coll. Man., I. 260. The uncia here engraved is of the same period as that of the ‘as’ of nine-and-a-half ounces.
