zodiac constellation, late Old English, from Latin libra, literally "pound, balance," from Mediterranean base *lithra- "a scale." Nativized in Old Norse as skala-merki.
the basic Roman unit of weight; after 268 BC it was about 5,076 English grains or equal to 0.722 pounds avoirdupois (0.329 kg). This pound was brought to Britain and other provinces where it became the standard for weighing gold and silver and for use in all commercial transactions. The abbreviation lb for pound is derived from libra. One-twelfth of the libra, the Roman uncia, is the ancestor of the English ounce