A coin weighing one drachma is known as astater, drachm, or drachma. The Ottomandirhem (Ottoman Turkish:درهم) was based on theSassanian drachm, which was itself based on the Roman dram/drachm.
The BritishWeights and Measures Act 1878 introduced verification and consequent stamping of apothecary weights, making them officially recognized units of measurement. By 1900, Britain had enforced the distinction between the avoirdupois and apothecaries' versions by making the spelling different:[14]
dram now meant only avoirdupois drams, which were1⁄16 of an avoirdupois ounce. An ounce consisted of 437.5grains, thus making the dram exactly 27.34375 grains.
drachm now meant only apothecaries' drachms, which were1⁄8 of an apothecaries' ounce of 480 grains, or equal to 60 grains.
In theavoirdupois system, the dram is the mass of1⁄256pound or1⁄16ounce.[5]: C-6 The dram weighs27+11⁄32grains,[5]: C-6 or exactly1.7718451953125 grams.[5]: C-14
In theapothecaries' system, which was widely used in the United States until the middle of the 20th century,[15] the dram is the mass of1⁄96 pounds apothecaries (lb ap), or1⁄8 ounces apothecaries (oz ap or ℥)[5]: C-7 (the pound apothecaries and ounce apothecaries are equal to thetroy pound (lb t), andtroy ounce (oz t), respectively).[5]: C-6–C-7 The dram apothecaries is equal to3 scruples (s ap or ℈) or60 grains (gr),[5]: C-7 or exactly3.8879346 grams.[5]: C-14
"Dram" is also used as a measure of the powder charge in a shotgun shell, representing the equivalent of black powder in drams avoirdupois.[16]
In the early 19th century, ateaspoonful had been considered equal to one fluid dram—60 minims[5]: C-5, C-7 —for medical prescriptions.[19] However, by 1876 the teaspoon had grown to 80–85minims,[20] making the equivalence unsuitable for medicinal dosage.[20] Today's US teaspoon is equivalent to 4.92892159375 ml, which is also1⁄6 US fluid ounces,1+1⁄3 US fluid drams,[5]: C-18 or 80 US minims.[5]: C-5
Pharmaceuticals are measured nowadays in metric units, but fluid drams are still used to measure the capacity ofpill containers.
Dram is used informally to mean a small amount ofliquor, especiallyScotch whisky.[21][7] The unit is used in the phrasedram shop, the U.S. legal term for an establishment that serves alcoholic beverages.[22]
The line "Where'd you get your whiskey, where'd you get your dram?" appears in some versions of the traditional pre–Civil War American song "Cindy".[23] In theMonty Python's song "The Bruces' Philosophers Song", there is the line "Hobbes was fond of his dram". In the old-time music tradition of the United States, there is a tune entitled "Gie the Fiddler a Dram",[24][25] "gie" being theScots language word for "give", brought over by immigrants and commonly used by their descendants in Appalachia at the time of writing. "Little Maggie," a traditional song popular inbluegrass music, refers to the title character as having a "dram glass in her hand."[26]
In the episode "Double Indecency" of the TV seriesArcher, the character Cheryl/Carol was carrying around 10 drams of Vole's blood and even offered to pay for a taxi ride with it.
InFrank Herbert'sDune, the Fremen employ a sophisticated measurement system that involves the drachm (and fractions thereof) to accurately count and economize water, an ultra-precious resource on their home, the desert planet Arrakis.
In the video gameCaves of Qud water is used as the primary currency, being measured by the Dram.
^InUnicode, a standard designed to allow symbols from all writing systems to be represented and manipulated by computers, the dram symbol has no dedicated symbol.[1] Typically, the lowercaseezh, or "tailed z", (ʒ) is used,[2] and the Unicode code table entry forʒ reads "LATIN SMALL LETTER EZH = dram sign".[3] However, the upper-case letterz inBlackletter/Fraktur hand. i.e.ℨ is also seen. Found in UnicodeMathematical Alphanumeric Symbols block,ℨ is meant to be used in mathematics and phonetics, and is not recommended as an abbreviation for dram.
^Powell, Richard;Royal College of Physicians of London (1809). "Weights, Measures, &c. [measures of liquids sect.]".The Pharmacopœia of the Royal College of Physicians of London, M. DCCC. IX. Pharmacopoeia Londinensis.English (corr. and enl. 2nd ed.). London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme. p. 3.hdl:2027/wu.89097444632.OCLC622876101.
^Ritter, Francis D. (2000).Successful Personal Injury Investigation: Master the Techniques of Finding the Facts that Win Cases for Plaintiff Attorneys (First ed.). Oceanside, California: Diverse Publications. p. 804.
^Erbsen, Wayne (1993).Front Porch Songs, Jokes & Stories. Native Ground. p. 12.
^Brown, John.Gie the fiddler a dram. Rec. May 1939 by Herbert Halpert. Lib. of Cong. Web. 15 September 2015. <http://www.loc.gov/item/afc9999005.7452>.
