Early Measurement History

Do You Know What the Following Mean? The “Cubit”… The “Fathom”… The “Hand/span”… The “Stride”… The “Foot”… The “Girth”… The “Palm…

The Cubit Was the measurement used by the Egyptians to build the pyramids.  The cubit was defined as the measurement from your elbow to the tip of your middle finger when your arm is extended.

The Fathom Used by seaman. For the most part it was used to measure the depth of water so that boats would not run aground.  The fathom is the measure from fingertip to fingertip when your arms are stretched sideways as far as they will go. You sometimes see a rope and thread measured this way.

The “hand-span” Was used to measure the height of horses. People still use the term hands to measure the height of horses.  The hand-span is the measure from the tip of your pinky to the tip of your thumb when your hand is stretched out.

The “Stride” This term was used by the Roman army to judge speed. The term is still used quite frequently during various types of foot races.  The stride is the distance from one step to another. The average stride for a full grown person is about 3 standard feet.

The “foot” The original foot was an early form of measurement before it became a standard of 12 inches. The foot was equal to the length of one of your feet.

The “Girth” One use for this type of measurement was in measuring fishing line… Sometimes we measure the girth of fish as well.  The girth was the measurement around one’s stomach (your belt measure).

The “Palm”  The palm or handbreadth is the width of your 4 fingers together.  The height of the camera to the right is a little less than one palm.

Some folks found measuring in this fashion to be quite challenging.