> Actually in the past "weight" [...] always referred correctly to what is now named "mass".
That’s the same thing I just said. Why add “actually” in front? Yes, weight was historically measured with balance scales.
I guess I should have been clearer that the term “mass” as used in physics only dates from 3 centuries ago (from Newton), and did not historically mean weight in Latin. (Mass comes from Latin via French for lump of dough.)
You are right, I have misunderstood what you have said, because it indeed looked like if "mass" would have been some traditional word having anything to do in any language with what are now called "weight" and "mass" instead of a recent post-Newton word choice for naming one of the 2 quantities, while keeping the old names for the other.
I still think that the choice of which of the 2 should get a new name was bad, because the traditional quantitative meaning almost always referred to what is now called "mass"(with extremely few exceptions such when somebody would be described as so strong as to be able to lift a certain weight).
That’s the same thing I just said. Why add “actually” in front? Yes, weight was historically measured with balance scales.
I guess I should have been clearer that the term “mass” as used in physics only dates from 3 centuries ago (from Newton), and did not historically mean weight in Latin. (Mass comes from Latin via French for lump of dough.)