Barrel (unit)
A barrel is one of several units of volume, with dry barrels, fluid barrels (UK beer barrel, US beer barrel), oil barrel, etc. The volume of some barrel units is double others, with various volumes in the range of about 100–200 litres (22–44 imp gal; 26–53 US gal), due to historical reasons. Since medieval times the measure barrel has been used with different meanings around Europe, from about 100 litres to above 1000 in special cases. The name comes from medieval French baril. In most countries, its use is mainly obsolete, superseded by SI units. Thus the meaning of corresponding words in other languages normally refers to a physical barrel, not a known measure. In the international oil market context, however, prices in USD per barrel are commonly used. Also, beer kegs are made in standardised volumes.
Read more about Barrel (unit): Dry Goods in The US, Fluid Barrel in The US and UK, Oil Barrel
Famous quotes containing the word barrel:
“My long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn’t pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)