Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Picul \Pic"ul\, n. [Jav. & Malay pikul, fr. pikul to carry on
   the back, to carry a burden; n., a man's burden.]
   A commercial weight varying in different countries and for
   different commodities. In Borneo it is 1355/8 lbs.; in China
   and Sumatra, 1331/2 lbs.; in Japan, 1331/3 lbs.; but
   sometimes 130 lbs., etc. Called also, by the Chinese, {tan}.
   [Written also {pecul}, and {pecal}.]