ton

Imperial unit of mass. The long ton, used in the UK, is 1,016 kg/2,240 lb; the short ton, used in the USA, is 907 kg/2,000 lb. The metric ton or tonne is 1,000 kg/2,205 lb.

ton

In shipping, a unit of volume (called a register ton) equal to 100 cubic feet/2.8 cubic meters. Gross tonnage measures the total internal volume of a ship. Net register tonnage is the amount of gross tonnage (in register tons) used for carrying cargo or passengers. Displacement tonnage is the weight of the vessel, in terms of the number of long tons of sea water displaced when the ship is loaded to its load line; it is used to describe warships, and one displacement ton equals 35 cubic feet/1 cubic meter.

Ton

In its early sense, word used by the German Minnesinger for the words and melody of their songs, and by the Meistersinger for the melody alone. The latter used all kinds of adjectives to differentiate the numerous tunes. Specimens of such names appear in Wagner's Meistersinger, where a Ton is also called a Weis (Weise, ‘tune’).