Pint
Volume · Also called: quart, gill, noggin, fluid ounce
That is
568.3 ml
1 pint (pint)
The other way round: 1 l is 1.7598 pints.
- Period: 1826 to today
- Region: the UK
Values
| Value | That is | Period | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| pint | 568.3 ml | 1826 to today | the UK |
| quart | 1.137 l | 1826 to today | the UK |
| gill | 142.1 ml | 1826 to today | spirits · the UK |
| fluid ounce | 28.41 ml | 1826 to today | the UK |
What the unit was used for
The pint is one eighth of an imperial gallon and the unit that survived metrication.
It remains lawful in the UK as a sole indication for draught beer and cider and for milk in returnable containers, which is why the pub pint and the doorstep bottle are still pints while the supermarket shelf is metric.
The imperial pint holds 20 fluid ounces against the US pint’s 16, a difference that dates from 1826: the imperial gallon was divided into 160 fluid ounces where the US gallon has 128.
An imperial pint is therefore about a fifth larger than an American one, which catches out recipes in both directions.
The gill, a quarter pint, was the traditional spirits measure in British pubs.
In the system
1 gallon = 4 quarts = 8 pints; 1 pint = 4 gills = 20 fluid ounces