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gin

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A Japanese unit of weight equal to approximately 1.32 pounds, used for weighing precious metals and general goods.

Detailed Definition
The gin (斤), traditional Japanese weight measure equal to roughly 600 grams (1.32 pounds), derives from Chinese jin. Used for weighing foods, metals, and commercial goods, gin appears in trade, cooking, and daily life contexts. In English poetry treating Japanese settings, commercial life, or material culture, gin provides authentic weight measurement. The term evokes Japanese markets, traditional commerce, and everyday material interactions. Poets employed gin when Japanese cultural specificity mattered in descriptions of trade, cooking, or weight-related contexts, maintaining measurement authenticity rather than converting to pounds, thereby preserving cultural flavor and grounding descriptions in Japanese practice.
Example
Example in poetry:
In translations of Japanese poetry, "the gold piece weighed precisely three gin" provides traditional measurement for precious metals; Poetry about Japanese commerce might reference "rice sold by the gin, each merchant's scales calibrated by guild standards"; In verse about traditional markets, "the vendor's gin weight, bronze and ancient, measuring what hands cannot judge"; Historical poetry about Japanese daily life could describe "provisions measured in gin, the family's week calculated grain by grain"; Modern poets writing about Japanese heritage might contrast "grandmother bought by the gin; supermarkets sell by the kilo—convenience replacing connection"; Poetry about craft traditions often uses "the swordsmith weighed the steel in gin, centuries of practice encoded in the measure."
Additional Notes
The gin (Japanese 斤) appears in contexts of traditional Japanese commerce, cooking, and precious metal trade. Students should understand that 1 gin ≈ 600 grams or 1.32 pounds, representing practical commercial quantities. The term derives from Chinese jin, showing shared East Asian measurement heritage. In translations of Japanese poetry or texts about Japanese markets, traditional commerce, or cooking, maintaining "gin" preserves cultural authenticity. Understanding that gin persisted alongside metric system in some Japanese contexts helps students recognize measurement's cultural dimensions. The term appears in traditional recipes, market transactions, and commercial contexts. Students should note that using Japanese measurements rather than converting to pounds signals engagement with Japanese culture on its own terms. Related terms include kan (larger weight), momme (smaller weight), and shaku (length measure), all traditional Japanese units. For students writing about Japanese markets, traditional cuisine, or historical Japanese commerce, employing gin rather than generic "pounds" adds cultural specificity and authenticity. The gin can represent traditional commerce, cultural persistence despite modernization, or the material culture of Japanese daily life.
Also Known As
trap Gin Rummy Tanqueray
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