Legal Definitions - pondere, numero, et mensura

Pondere, numero, et mensura is a Latin phrase that translates to "by weight, number, and measure." In legal and commercial contexts, this phrase historically describes the primary methods used to identify and quantify goods that are considered fungible.

Fungible goods are items that are interchangeable with one another; one unit of a fungible good is essentially identical to any other unit of the same type. Because these goods lack unique individual characteristics and can be precisely quantified, their value and exchange are typically determined by their quantity rather than by individual inspection. This concept is fundamental to understanding how bulk commodities and standardized products are traded and managed.

• Bulk Construction Materials: Imagine a large construction project that requires several tons of sand for mixing concrete. The sand is ordered and delivered based on its total weight.
  • Explanation: Here, the sand is quantified "by weight" (pondere). Each grain of sand is not individually significant; what matters is the overall mass. The sand is fungible because any ton of the specified type of sand is considered equivalent to another, and its value is determined by this precise measurement.
• Standardized Retail Products: Consider a supermarket stocking thousands of identical cans of a particular brand of soda. When the store orders more inventory, they specify the number of cases or individual cans they need.
  • Explanation: These cans of soda are quantified "by number" (numero). Each can is a fungible item; a customer doesn't care about the unique history of a specific can, only that they receive the correct quantity of an identical product. The order is fulfilled based on a precise count.
• Liquid Commodities: A chemical manufacturing plant purchases a large volume of a specific industrial solvent, measured in liters, for use in its production process.
  • Explanation: The industrial solvent is quantified "by measure" (mensura), specifically by volume. The solvent is fungible because any liter of it is considered the same as another, and the plant's needs are met by receiving the exact measured quantity, not by evaluating individual drops or batches.