List of obsolete units of measurement
This is a list of obsolete units of measurement, organized by type. These units of measurement are typically no longer used, though some may be in limited use in various regions. For units of measurement that are unusual but not necessarily obsolete, see List of unusual units of measurement. For units of measurement that are humorous in nature, see List of humorous units of measurement.
Area
[edit]
- Antsingae – a unit of area, smaller than the bunarium.[1]
- Bunarium (plural "bunaria") – a unit of area, equal to about 120 ares or 12,000 square metres[1]
- Carucate
- Cawnie
- Decimal
- Dessiatin
- Ground
- Hide
- Juchart
- Jugerum
- Katha
- Lessa or Lecha[2]
- Marabba
- Morgen
- Oxgang
- Pari – a unit of area equal to about 1 hectare
- Quinaria
- Tathe
- Virgate
Energy, etc.
[edit]- Poncelet – unit of power
- Sthène – unit of force
- Technical atmosphere – a unit of pressure
Length
[edit]- Ald
- Alen
- Aṅgula
- Arabic mile
- Arş and Arşın – two Turkish units of length
- Bamboo – also known as the Burmese league
- Barleycorn – one-third of an inch.
- Cana – a unit of length used in the former Crown of Aragon, at least in Catalonia. It is around the same value as the vara of Aragon, Spain, and Portugal.[3]
- Cubit[4]
- Ell
- Girah
- Guz
- Hat'h
- Jow
- Lachter – a unit of length once used in the mining industry in most of Europe. It was usually used to measure depth, tunnel driving and the size of mining fields; it was also used for contract work. In mining in the German-speaking countries, it was the primary unit of length.
- Ligne – a French unit of length, roughly equal to 2.25 mm (0.089 in), or 9 points
- Line
- Macedonian cubit
- Pace
- Palm
- Parasang
- Pes
- Pyramid inch – a unit of length, believed to be equal to 1⁄25 of the cubit
- Rod
- Sana lamjel
- Spat – a unit of length equal to 1,000,000,000 km (620,000,000 mi)
- Stadion
- Step
- Unglie
- Vara – an Aragonese, Spanish, and Portuguese unit[3]
- Yojana – a Vedic measure of distance used in ancient India. Its value was about 10 km (6.2 mi), although the exact value is disputed among scholars (between 8 and 13 km or 5 and 8 mi)
Luminosity
[edit]
- Carcel burner – an efficient lighting device used in the nineteenth century for domestic purposes and in France as the standard measure for illumination
- Carcel
- Hefner candle
- Violle
Mass or weight
[edit]- Abucco – in Bago, Myanmar, this was a unit of mass used for gold and silver. It was approximately 196.44 grams or 6.316 troy ounces.[5]
- Arroba – an Iberian unit of weight, equivalent to 11.5 kilograms[6]
- Buddam
- Candy
- Corgee – an obsolete unit of mass equal to 212 moodahs, or rush mat bundles of rice. The unit was used in the Canara (now Kanara) region of Karnataka in India.
- Cullingey
- Dharni
- Dirham
- Duella
- Dutch cask – a British unit of mass, used for butter and cheese. Equal to 112 lb (51 kg).
- Esterling
- Faggot – has multiple meanings in metrology. As relevant to this article, it was a unit of mass, being 120 lb (54 kg).
- Grzywna
- Keel – a UK unit of mass for coal, equaling 21,540.19446656 kg (47,488.0000000 lb)[7]: 48
- Large sack – a unit of mass equal to 2 (new) sacks
- Long ton
- Lot
- Mark
- Munjandie
- Oka
- Pao
- Passeree – a unit of mass equal to about 4.6 kg (10.1412640605 lb)
- Pennyweight
- Pood
- Roll – a U.K. unit of mass for butter and cheese[7]: 46 equal to 24 oz (680 g)[7]: 52
- Room – a U.K. unit of mass of coal equivalent to 15,680 lb (7,110 kg)[7]: 52
- Sarpler
- Ship load
- Slug
- Talent – a unit of mass in the tens of kg
- Tank
- Tod
- Truss – a unit of mass used to describe tight bundle of hay or straw. It would usually be cuboid, for storage or shipping, and would either be harvested into such bundles or cut from a large rick.
- Whey – a unit of mass used for butter and cheese
- Zentner
- Zolotnik
Temperature
[edit]- Delisle scale
- Leiden scale
- Newton scale – a temperature scale devised by Isaac Newton in 1701.[8][9][10]
- Réaumur scale
- Rømer scale
- Wedgwood scale
Volume (dry or liquid)
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- Acetabulum
- Adowlie
- Amphora
- Aum
- Belshazzar
- Botella − Spanish for "bottle", which has been given various standard capacities at different times and places, and for different fluids.[12] Often-cited figures include 0.95 liters in Cuba (1796), 0.75 liters in Cuba (1862) and 0.7 liters in Colombia (1957).[13]
- Bucket
- Butt
- Chungah
- Congius
- Coomb
- Cord-foot – a U.S. unit of volume for stacked firewood with the symbol cd-ft equal to 16 cu ft (0.45 m3)[7]: 52
- Cotyla
- Cran
- Cullishigay
- Deal – a former U.K. and U.S. unit of volume for stacked firewood.[7] A U.K. deal equaled 7 ft × 6 ft × 2+1⁄2 in, while a U.S. deal equaled 12 ft × 11 in × 1+1⁄2 in.[7]
- Demiard – an old French unit of volume. When France metricated, it survived in Louisiana and Quebec. The demiard eventually became associated with the American and British half-pint rather than French units.[7]
- Firlot
- Hekat
- Hogshead
- Homer
- House cord – a former U.S. unit of volume for stacked firewood[7]
- Kile
- Koku
- Lambda – an uncommon metric unit of volume discontinued with the introduction of the SI
- London quarter
- Lump of butter – used in the U.S. up to and possibly after of the American Revolution. It equaled "one well rounded tablespoon".[14]
- Masu
- Metretes
- Octave
- Omer
- Pau
- Peck – the name of two different units of volume, one imperial and one U.S. Both equaled about 9 litres.
- Puddee
- Salt spoon – used in the U.S., up to and possibly after of the American Revolution. Four salt spoons equaled one teaspoon.[14]
- Seah
- Ser
- Shipping ton – a unit of volume defined as 50 cu ft (1.4 m3)
- Stuck
- Wineglass – used in the U.S., up to and possibly after of the American Revolution. One wineglass equaled 1⁄4 cup.[14]
Other
[edit]- Apothecaries' system
- Atom (time) – a hypothetical unit of time used in the Middle Ages
- Bahar – a unit of length in Iran, and was a unit of mass in Oman
- Batman – mostly a unit of mass, but sometimes a unit of area
- Demal – unit of concentration
- Dimi (metric prefix) – a discontinued non-SI metric prefix for 10−4[7]
- Einstein – unit of energy, and a unit of amount of substance
- Fanega – a unit of dry volume, and a unit of area
- Fresnel – a unit of frequency
- Garce – a unit of dry volume in India, and a unit of mass in Sri Lanka
- Hobbit – a unit of volume, or, more rarely, of weight
- Kula – a unit of area in India, and mass in Morocco
- Last – a unit of mass or volume
- League – usually a unit of length, but sometimes a unit of area
- Mache
- Mesures usuelles
- Perch – most commonly a unit of area, but sometimes a unit of length or volume
- Pièze – a unit of pressure
- Quibi – a unit of time equal to 10 minutes. First used in Quibi's own Super Bowl LIII advertising campaign, this word saw small amounts of ironic adoption.
- Rood – a unit of area or length
- Sack – originally a medieval unit of mass, equal to 26 stone (364 pounds, or about 165 kg). Since a unit of dry volume, equal to 24 imperial gallons (about 109 liters).
- Schoenus – a unit of area or length
- Scrupulum – a unit of area, mass, or time
- Seam – a unit of mass or volume
- Seer – a unit of mass or volume
- Toise – a unit of area, length, or volume
- Tub – usually a unit of mass, but sometimes a unit of volume
- Uncia – an ancient Roman unit of length, mass, or volume
- Wey – a unit of mass or volume
- Winchester measure – a system of volume measurement
See also
[edit]- Dimensional metrology
- Forensic metrology
- Smart Metrology
- Time metrology
- Quantum metrology
- Hair's breadth
- Hindu units of time
- History of measurement
- List of humorous units of measurement
- List of scientific units named after people
- List of unusual units of measurement
- Medieval weights and measures
- Muggeseggele
- System of measurement
By geography
[edit]- Ancient Arabic units of measurement
- Ancient Egyptian units of measurement
- Ancient Greek units of measurement
- Ancient Mesopotamian units of measurement
- Ancient Roman units of measurement
- Danish units of measurement
- Obsolete Finnish units of measurement
- Obsolete German units of measurement
- History of measurement systems in India
- Japanese units of measurement
- List of customary units of measurement in South Asia
- Maltese units of measurement
- Obsolete Polish units of measurement
- Obsolete Russian units of measurement
- Obsolete Scottish units of measurement
- Obsolete Tatar units of measurement
- Old Cornish units of measurement
- Old Irish units of measurement
- Ottoman units of measurement
- Persian units of measurement
- Portuguese customary units
- Roman timekeeping
- Spanish customary units
- Tamil units of measurement
References
[edit]- ^ a b Herlihy, David (2009). Medieval Households. Harvard University Press. p. 69. ISBN 9780674038608.
- ^ Lessa or Lecha Unit Converter
- ^ a b Gilbert, E.W.; Beckinsale, R.P. (1944). Spain & Portugal: Spain. Its Geographical handbook series. Naval Intelligence Division.
- ^ Hoong, Tho Lai; Yi, Tho Mun (2008). Interactive Science For Inquiring Minds Volume A. Panpac Education Pte Ltd. p. 33. ISBN 978-9812716187.
- ^ Kisch, Bruno (1965). Scales and Weights. Original from the University of California: Yale University Press. p. 237.
- ^ William Parry, Louis Albert Fischer,State and National Laws Concerning the Weights and Measures of the United StatesUnited States National Bureau of Standards, 1912 p. 414
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cardarelli, François (2003). Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins. London: Springer. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-4471-1122-1.
- ^ Published anonymously as "Scala graduum Caloris. Calorum Descriptiones & signa." in Philosophical Transactions. 1701. pp. 824–829.
- ^ Nichols, Joannes, ed. (1782). Isaaci Newtoni Opera quae exstant omnia. Vol. 4. pp. 403–407.
- ^ Silverman, Mark P. (2002), A Universe of Atoms, Springer, p. 49, ISBN 9780387954370
- ^ Trudel, Marcel, Introduction to New France, p. 222
- ^ sizes.com lists figures for bottles in Bolivia from 460 ml to 1 liter.
- ^ McCusker, John (2005). Essays in the Economic History of the Atlantic World. Routledge. p. 63. ISBN 1134703406.
- ^ a b c Pelton, Robert W.; Pelton, W. Pelton (2004). Baking Recipes of Our Founding Fathers. Infinity Publishing. pp. 263–264. ISBN 0741419440.
Further reading
[edit]- Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures; Jan Gyllenbok; Birkhäuser; 2018; 3 Volumes.
- Historical Metrology: A New Analysis of the Archaeological and the Historical Evidence Relating to Weights and Measures; Algernon Berriman; Praeger; 1970; ISBN 978-0837124247.