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English unit is the American name for a unit in one of a number of systems of
units of measurement, some obsolete, and some still in use. In spite of the name, it does not necessarily refer to the (non-SI) system of units still in widespread, but mostly unofficial, use in England and the rest of the United Kingdom. The system is known as the English System in the United States and elsewhere as the
Imperial System. The American term 'English unit' includes the Imperial units as well as various other U.S. units such as the U.S. gallon (Queen Anne's wine gallon) and the U.S. bushel (Winchester bushel).
Various standards under the name 'English units' have applied at different times, in different places and for different things. Prior to the Battle of Hastings in 1066 the Anglo-Saxon system of measurement had been based on the units of the barleycorn and the
gyrd (rod). This system presumably had Germanic origins. After the
Norman conquest, Ancient Roman units of measurement were reintroduced. The resultant system of English units was a combination of the Anglo-Saxons and Roman systems.
Later development of the
England system continued by defining the units by law in the Magna Carta of 1215, and issuing measurement standards from the then capital
Winchester. Standards were renewed in 1496, 1588 and 1758. The last
Imperial Standard Yard in bronze was made in 1845; it served as the standard in the United Kingdom until the yard was internationally redefined as 0.9144 metre in 1959 (statutory implementation: Weights and Measures Act of 1963).
The use of English units spread throughout the British Isles and to the British colonies. These units form the basis for the Imperial system formerly used in Commonwealth of Nations countries and the United States customary units used in the
United States. Whilst these two systems are quite similar there are a number of notable
Comparison of the Imperial and US customary systems.
Usage of the term "English System" or "English Unit" is common in the US, but it is problematical. It can be ambiguous. It usually refers to either the Imperial System or the US Customary System, and in cases where these two systems differ, it is not clear which system is being described. Some people also call it the "British system" in the US. It is interesting to note, referring to this system as the British or English system, almost only occurs in the United States, mainly causing confusion in Britain when reading from American sources.
Historical English units
Length
poppyseed ¼ of a barleycorn
barleycorn Basic Anglo-Saxon unit, the length of a corn of barley. The unit survived after 1066, redefined as 1/3 inch. Note the relation to the
grain #Weight.
digit (unit) ¾ inchfinger (unit) 7/8 inch
hand (unit) 4 inches
ynch, inch Anglo Saxon inch, 3 barleycorns. Based on the Roman
uncia from 1066.
nail (unit) 3 digits = 2¼ inches = 1/16 yardpalm (unit) 3 inches
shaftment Width of the hand and outstretched thumb, 6½
ynches before 1066, 6 inches thereafterspan (unit) Width of the outstretched hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, 3 palms = 9 inches
foot (unit) Usually 13
inches but also other variants. Shortened to 12 inches by basing it on the Roman
pes from 1066.cubit Forearm, 18 inches.yard Introduced after 1066, 3 feet = 36 inches.ell (unit) Elbow, 20 nails = 1¼ yard or 45 inches. Mostly for measuring clothing
fathom From one fingertip to the other, 6 feet
rod (unit) Saxon
gyrd measuring stick, might have been from 20 "natural feet". Retained its length but redefined as 16 ½ Roman feet after 1066.
chain (unit) four linear
rods. Named after the length of surveyor's chain used to measure distances until quite recently. Any of several actual chains used for land surveying and divided in links. Edmund Gunter, introduced in the 17th century, is 66 feet.furlong "One plough's furrow long" (Saxon
furrow is
furh), the distance a plough team could be driven without rest. This varied from region to region depending on soil type and local habit. In modern context, it is deemed to be 660 feet, 40 rods or ten
chains.
mile Introduced after 1066, originally the Roman mile at 5000 feet, in 1592 it was extended to 5280 feet to make it an even number of furlongs, i.e. 8.
league (unit) Usually three miles. Intended to be an hour's walk.
Area
perch: one
rod, when referring to length; one square
rod when referring to area; one
rod by one foot by a foot and a half when referring to volume (usually specifically for masonry stonework)
acre: area of land one
chain (four
rods) in width by one
furlong in length. As the traditional
furlong could vary in length from country to country, so did the
acre. In England an
acre was 4,840 square yards, in Obsolete Scottish units of measurement 6,150 square yards and in Ireland 7,840 square yards. It is a Saxon unit, meaning
field. Probably meant to be "as much area as could be plowed in one day".
rood: one quarter of an
acre, confusingly sometimes called an acre itself in many ancient contexts. One
furlong in length by one
rod in width, or 40 square
rods.
carucate: an area equal to that which can be ploughed by one eight-oxen team in a single year (also called a
plough or
carve). Approximately 120
roods.bovate: the amount of land one ox can plough in a single year (also called an oxgate). Approximately 15
roods or one eighth of a
carucate.virgate: the amount of land a pair of oxen can plough in a single year. Approximately 30
roods (also called
yard land).
Administrative units
Hide (unit): four to eight
bovates. A unit of yield, rather than area, it measured the amount of land able to support a single household for agricultural and taxation purposes.
knight's fee: five hides. A
knight's fee was expected to produce one fully equipped soldier for a
knight's retinue in times of war.Hundred (division): or wapentake - 100
hides grouped for administrative purposes.
Volume
General
In both Britain and America, in addition to Pole (length) as a measure of length, there is also the perch (volume) which refers to the volume measurement of stone; one perch is equal to 16.5 ft × 1.5 ft × 1 ft = 24.75 cubic foot of dry stone. The relationship to the unit of length (one perch = 16.5 feet) should be obvious.
Units of volume included:
Mouthful: about ½ Ounce
Jigger (bartending): Mouthful × 2 = 1 oz.Jack or Jackpot: Jigger × 2 = 2 oz.Gill (unit): Jack × 2 = 4 oz (U.S.) or 5 oz (imperial).
Cup: Jill × 2 = 8 oz.
Pint Cup × 2 = 16 oz. (U.S.) or 20 oz (imperial) (and a "Pint's a pound the world around" or in Britain, "A pint of pure water weighs a pound and a quarter")
Quart: Pint × 2 = 32 oz. (U.S.) or 40 oz (imperial)
Pottle or Half Gallon: Quart × 2 = 64 oz. (U.S.) or 80 oz (imperial)Gallon: Pottle × 2 = 4 Quarts = 128 oz. (U.S.) or 160 oz (imperial)Peck: Gallon × 2
Kenning: Peck × 2 = 4 gal.
Bushel: Kenning × 2 = 8 gal.Cask (unit), Strike (unit), or Coomb: Bushel × 2 = 16 gal.Barrel (unit): Cask × 2 = 32 gal.
Hogshead (unit) Barrel × 2 = 64 gal.Butt (unit) or
Pipe (unit): hogshead × 2 = 128 gal.Tun (unit) Butt × 2 = 256 gal. (A tun is a ton)
A Tun would actually be about 2,048 lb. but is a pretty close estimate given that you could derive the weight and volume all from mouthfuls of water.
Wine
Brewery
Weight
The Avoirdupois, Troy weight and Apothecaries' system of mass systems of weights all shared the same finest unit, the grain (measure), however they differ as to the number of grains there are in a dram, ounce and pound (mass). Originally, this grain was the weight of a grain seed from the middle of an ear of barley. There also was a smaller
wheat grain, said to be ¾ (barley) grains or about 48.6 milligrams.
Avoirdupois
grain (measure) (gr) 64.79891 mg, 1/7000th of a pound
dram/drachm (dr) 27.34375 gr (sixteenth of an ounce) (possibly originated as the weight of silver in ancient Greek coin
drachma)
ounce (oz) 16 dr = 437.5 grains ≈ 28 gpound (mass) (lb) 16 oz = 7000 grains ≈ 454 g (NBquarter ¼ cwt
hundredweight (cwt) 112 lb (
long) or 100 lb (
short)ton 20 cwt
Additions:
nail (unit) 1/16 cwt = 7 lb
clove 7 lb (wool)
stone (weight) (st) 2 cloves = 14 lb (an Anglo-Saxon unit changed to fit in)tod 2 st = ¼ cwt (long)
Troy and Tower
The Troy and Tower pounds and their subdivisions were used for coins and precious metals. The Tower pound, which is based upon an earlier Anglo-Saxon pound, was abolished in 1527.
In terms of (silver) currency a
Pound sterling was 20 shillings of 12 pennies each (i.e. 240) from the late 8th century (Charlemagne/
Offa of Mercia) to 1971 in Great Britain, but lighter than a troy one. Most old European currencies, like Mark (money), shilling/solidus/groschen/øre, penny/pfennig/denar, taler/dollar/krone, florin/gulden/guilder/pound/złoty also belong into this monetary system.
Troy
grain (measure) (gr) ≈ 65 mgpennyweight (dwt) 24 gr ≈ 1.56 gounce (oz t) 20 dwt = 480 gr ≈ 31.1 gpound (mass) (lb t) 12 oz t = 5760 gr ≈ 373 gmark (weight): 8 oz t
Tower
tower ounce 18¾ dwt = 450 gr ≈ 29 gPound (mass) 12 oz T = 225 dwt = 5400 gr ≈ 350 g
Apothecary
grain (measure) (gr) ≈ 65 mgscruple (s ap) 20 gr
dram (dr ap) 3 s ap = 60 gr
ounce (oz ap) 8 dr ap = 480 grpound (mass) (lb ap) 5760 gr = 1 lb t
Others
Merchants/Mercantile pound 15 oz tower = 6750 gr ≈ 437.4 gLondon/Mercantile pound 15 oz troy = 16 oz tower = 7200 gr ≈ 466.6 gMercantile stone 12 lb L ≈ 5.6 kg Tron pound (Edinburgh/Scots) 16 oz Tron ≈ 623.5 g
Butcher's stone 8 lb ≈ 3.63 kgSack 26 st = 364 lb ≈ 165 kg
The Carat (mass) was once specified as four grains in the English-speaking world.Some local units in the English dominion were (re-)defined in simple terms of English units, such as the Indian
Tola (measure) of 180 grains.
{| class="wikitable right" style="height:220px"|+
English pounds!rowspan="2"| Pound!colspan="6"| Pounds!colspan="3"| Ounces! Grains!colspan="2"| Metric|-! avdp. !! troy !! tower !! merc. !! lond. !!title="rounded"| metric! avdp. !! troy !! tower! (gr) !!title="slightly rounded"| (g) !!title="rounded"| (kg)|-! Avoirdupois| 1 || || || || ||
|
16 || || | 7000 ||
453.59 ||
|-! Troy| || 1 || || || ||
| ||
12 || | 5760 ||
373.24 ||
|-! Tower| || || 1 || || ||
| || ||
12| 5400 ||
349.91 ||
|-! Merchant| || || || 1 || ||
| || || 15| 6750 ||
437.39 ||
|-! London| || || || || 1 ||
| || 15 || 16| 7200 ||
466.55 ||
|-! Metric|
||
||
||
||
|| 1|
||
16 ||
|
7716 || 500.00 || |}
See also: Slug (mass) and
poundal.
See also
External links
- English Customary Weights and Measures
- Jacques J. Proot's Anglo-Saxon weights & measures page.
- Alexander Justice, " A General Discourse of the Weights and Measures" (London, 1707).