The quintal is a unit of mass.
In order to know the meaning of the term quintal , it is necessary that, first of all, we know what its etymological origin is. In this sense, we have to say that it is somewhat complicated, since it derives from the Spanish Arabic “quintar”, which, in turn, emanates from the Syrian “qantira”. But the matter does not stop there, since that last word comes from Latin, more precisely from “centenarium”, which means “centennial”.
Quintal is a unit of mass that was used in ancient times. Depending on the context , a quintal could be equivalent to 100 pounds or 100 Castilian pounds . This means that one quintal was equivalent to about 46 kilograms .
Current uses of the quintal
Although the quintal has fallen into disuse, it is still maintained in certain Latin American nations when food is weighed in markets . Thus one can speak of “one quintal of cornstarch” or “two quintals of soybeans” , for example.
This means that, in some contexts, the notion of quintal is used to refer to a certain amount of rice , sugar , coffee , flour , etc. Of course, the use of the concept must be widespread in the region so that the interlocutor can interpret what amount of food the expression refers to.
When dividing a quintal, the arrobas are usually used. This unit of mass is equivalent to a quarter of a quintal .
The idea of quintal can be used to refer to a certain amount of rice, coffee and other food products.
Some specific types
There are certain specific types of quintal that can be mentioned in certain regions . The short quintal , also known as the American quintal , has a value of 45.35 kilos . The long quintal or British quintal , on the other hand, is equivalent to 50.80 kilos .
In the international system of units, however, the metric quintal is a multiple of the gram . It is equivalent to 100,000 grams or 100 kilograms , according to the existing correspondences between all the multiples .
Other uses of the term quintal
Colloquially, quintal is still used to directly refer to the fact that something, any object, weighs a lot. Thus, an example would be the following sentence: “Miguel cannot move that box because it weighs a quintal.”
Within the cinematographic field we find the film “How to steal a quintal of diamonds in Russia”. It is an Italian film from 1967, directed by Guido Malatesta, which, as its name indicates, revolves around the attempt to take possession of a significant amount of these precious jewels from Russian lands.
Quintal is also the name of a small town in France that is part of the region called Rhône-Alpes . The surface of this commune does not reach 10 square kilometers .
Likewise, we cannot ignore that Quintal is also the name of a Colombian company, with a presence in other countries around the world, which is specialized in the manufacturing, production and distribution of certain products that are used within the field of chemistry. . It began operating in the 1940s and has expanded its services to today offer both manufactured products, such as carbon disulfide or manganese sulfate monohydrate, and marketed products, such as sulfur ore. All this without forgetting the inputs for foundry and steel, as would be the case of ferromanganese and ferrochrome, among others.