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Shaftment

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25: 90: 105:, which nowadays is exactly 152.4 mm. A shaftment was traditionally the width of the fist and outstretched thumb. The lengths of poles, staves, etc. can be easily measured by grasping the bottom of the staff with thumb extended and repeating such hand over hand grips along the length of the staff. 54: 296: 76: 275: 175: 37: 291: 47: 41: 33: 154: 113:
It occurs in Anglo-Saxon written records as early as 910 and in English as late as 1474. After the modern
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - How Many? - A Dictionary of Units of Measurement
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came into use in the twelfth century, the shaftment was reinterpreted as exactly
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This unit has mostly fallen out of use, as have others based on the human arm:
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is an obsolete unit of length defined since the 12th century as 6
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Some hand-based measurements, including the shaftment (1)
168: 46:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks 8: 186: 195:for 'a foot fitted to the hand'). 77:Learn how and when to remove this message 7: 127:foot or 6 inches (152.4 mm). 14: 147:. It is derived from Old English 297:Human-based units of measurement 23: 1: 16:Obsolete unit of measurement 313: 167:, from the Proto-Germanic 161:('shaft') and Old English 135:Other spellings include 32:This article includes a 179: 170: 163: 158: 149: 61:more precise citations. 187: 185:Two shaftments make a 131:Spelling and etymology 94: 92: 262:(3 shaftments) and 176:Proto-Indo-European 266:(7.5 shaftments). 258:(1.5 shaftments), 95: 34:list of references 87: 86: 79: 304: 253: 252: 248: 239: 238: 234: 225: 224: 220: 211: 210: 206: 190: 173: 166: 152: 126: 125: 121: 82: 75: 71: 68: 62: 57:this article by 48:inline citations 27: 26: 19: 312: 311: 307: 306: 305: 303: 302: 301: 292:Units of length 282: 281: 272: 250: 246: 245: 236: 232: 231: 222: 218: 217: 208: 204: 203: 174:, in turn from 153:, in turn from 133: 123: 119: 118: 111: 83: 72: 66: 63: 52: 38:related reading 28: 24: 17: 12: 11: 5: 310: 308: 300: 299: 294: 284: 283: 280: 279: 271: 268: 155:Proto-Germanic 132: 129: 110: 107: 85: 84: 67:September 2011 42:external links 31: 29: 22: 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 309: 298: 295: 293: 290: 289: 287: 277: 274: 273: 269: 267: 265: 261: 257: 243: 229: 215: 201: 196: 194: 189: 183: 181: 177: 172: 165: 160: 156: 151: 146: 142: 138: 130: 128: 116: 108: 106: 104: 100: 91: 81: 78: 70: 60: 56: 50: 49: 43: 39: 35: 30: 21: 20: 254:shaftment), 226:shaftment), 212:shaftment), 197: 188:pes manualis 184: 144: 141:scaeftemunde 140: 136: 134: 112: 98: 96: 73: 64: 53:Please help 45: 240:shaftment) 59:introducing 286:Categories 270:References 182:('hand'). 137:schaftmond 145:shathmont 99:shaftment 276:Units: S 249:⁄ 235:⁄ 221:⁄ 207:⁄ 178:: * 159:skaftaz 157:: * 122:⁄ 109:History 55:improve 214:finger 150:sceaft 143:, and 103:inches 260:cubit 200:digit 193:Latin 169:* 40:, or 256:span 242:hand 228:palm 171:mund 164:mund 139:and 115:foot 97:The 264:ell 180:man 288:: 223:48 44:, 36:, 251:3 247:2 244:( 237:2 233:1 230:( 219:7 216:( 209:8 205:1 202:( 191:( 124:2 120:1 80:) 74:( 69:) 65:( 51:.

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list of references
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inches
foot
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Indo-European
Latin
digit
finger
palm
hand
span
cubit
ell
Units: S
Categories
Units of length
Human-based units of measurement

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