Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In both customary and imperial units, one foot comprises 12 inches, and one yard comprises three feet. Since an international agreement in 1959, the foot is defined as equal to exactly 0.3048 meters. Historically, the "foot" was a part of many local systems of units, including the Greek, Roman, Chinese, French, and English systems. It varied in ...
587 + 1 ⁄ 5 in standard rod inch = 10 lines foot = 12 inches yard = 3 feet ell = 3 + 3 ⁄ 4 feet fathom = 6 feet perch, pole = 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 yards furlong = 40 poles mile = 8 furlongs league = 3 miles Area rood = 40 square poles acre = 4 roods Volume dry liquid; gill = 1 ⁄ 4 pint pint = 1 ⁄ 2 quart quart = 1 ⁄ 2 pottle pottle = 1 ⁄ 2 ...
The basic unit of length in the imperial and U.S. customary systems is the yard, defined as exactly 0.9144 m by international treaty in 1959. [2] [5] Common imperial units and U.S. customary units of length include: [6] thou or mil (1 ⁄ 1000 of an inch) inch (25.4 mm) foot (12 inches, 0.3048 m) yard (3 feet, 0.9144 m)
For measuring length, the U.S. customary system uses the inch, foot, yard, and mile, which are the only four customary length measurements in everyday use.From 1893, the foot was legally defined as exactly 1200 ⁄ 3937 m (approximately 0.304 8006 m). [13]
Originally the span of a man's outstretched arms, the size of a fathom has varied slightly depending on whether it was defined as a thousandth of an (Admiralty) nautical mile or as a multiple of the imperial yard. Formerly, the term was used for any of several units of length varying around 5– 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 feet (1.5–1.7 m).
The "old English mile" of the medieval and early modern periods varied but seems to have measured about 1.3 international miles (2.1 km). [17] [18] The old English mile varied over time and location within England. [18] The old English mile has also been defined as 79,200 or 79,320 inches (1.25 or 1.2519 statute miles). [19]
A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. [2] [3] [4] Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( 1 / 60 of a degree) of latitude at the equator, so that Earth's polar circumference is very near to 21,600 nautical miles (that is 60 minutes × 360 degrees).
The quarter of a yard (9 inches) was known as the "quarter" without further qualification, while the sixteenth of a yard (2.25 inches) was called a nail. [62] The eighth of a yard (4.5 inches) was sometimes called a finger, [63] but was more commonly referred to simply as an eighth of a yard, while the half-yard (18 inches) was called "half a ...