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Ell

January 01, 1970

This article is about the unit of length. For the letter, see L. For other uses, see Ell (disambiguation).
"Aune" redirects here. For the surname, see Aune (surname).

An ell (from Proto-Germanic *alinō, cognate with Latin ulna)[1] is a northwestern European unit of measurement, originally understood as a cubit (the combined length of the forearm and extended hand). The word literally means "arm", and survives in the form of the modern English word "elbow" (arm-bend). Later usage through the 19th century refers to several longer units,[2][3] some of which are thought to derive from a "double ell".[4][5]

Ell
The ell was originally a cubit, later replaced by the cloth-ell or "double ell".
General information
Unit ofLength
Conversions (imperial)
1 imp unit in ...... is equal to ...
   Inch   45
   Metre   1.143
Historic standard units of the city of Regensburg: from left to right, a fathom (Klafter), foot (Schuch) and ell (Öln).

An ell-wand or ellwand was a rod of length one ell used for official measurement. Edward I of England required that every town have one. In Scotland, the Belt of Orion was called "the King's Ellwand".[6][7] An iron ellwand is preserved in the entrance to Stånga Church on the Swedish island of Gotland, indicating the role that rural churches had in disseminating uniform measures.[8]

Several national forms existed, with different lengths, including the Scottish ell (≈37 inches or 94 centimetres), the Flemish ell [el] (≈27 in or 68.6 cm), the French ell [aune] (≈54 in or 137.2 cm),[9] the Polish ell (≈31 in or 78.7 cm), the Danish alen (24 Danish inches or 2 Danish fod: 62.7708 cm), the Swedish aln (2 Swedish fot 59.38 cm) and the German ell [Elle] of different lengths in Frankfurt (54.7 cm), Cologne, Leipzig (Saxony) or Hamburg.

Select customs were observed by English importers of Dutch textiles; although all cloths were bought by the Flemish ell, linen was sold by the English ell, but tapestry was sold by the Flemish ell.[9]

The Viking ell was the measure from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, about 18 inches (460 mm). The Viking or primitive ell was used in Iceland up to the 13th century. By the 13th century, a law set the "stika" as equal to 2 ells which was the English ell of the time.[10]

Historic use edit

England edit

In England, the ell was usually exactly 45 in (1.143 m), or a yard and a quarter. It was mainly used in the tailoring business but is now obsolete. Although the exact length was never defined in English law, standards were kept; the brass ell examined at the Exchequer by Graham in the 1740s had been in use "since the time of Queen Elizabeth".[11]

Other English measures called an ell include the "yard and handful", or 40 in. ell, abolished in 1439; the yard and inch, or 37 in. ell (a cloth measure), abolished after 1553 and known later as the Scotch ell＝37·06; and the cloth ell of 45 in., used until 1600.[12] See yard for details.

Scots edit

The Scottish ell (Scottish Gaelic: slat Albannach) is approximately 37 inches (0.94 m). The Scottish ell was standardised in 1661, with the exemplar to be kept in the custody of Edinburgh.[13] It comes from Middle English elle.[14]

It was used in the popular expression "Gie 'im an inch, an he'll tak an ell" (equivalent to "Give him an inch and he'll take a mile" or "... he'll take a yard", and closely similar to the English proverb "Give him an inch and he'll take an ell", first published as "For when I gave you an inch, you tooke an ell" by John Heywood in 1546.[15]

The Ell Shop (1757) in Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross (National Trust for Scotland), is so called from the 18th-century iron ell-stick attached to one corner, once used to measure cloth and other commodities in the adjacent market-place. The shaft of the 17th-century Kincardine mercat cross stands in the square of Fettercairn, and is notched to show the measurements of an ell.

Scottish measures were made obsolete, and English measurements made standard in Scotland, by an Act of Parliament, the Weights and Measures Act 1824.

 
The Dunkeld ell explained on an information board outside The Ell Shop

Other edit

Similar measures include:[12]

  • Netherlands: el, 1 metre (Old ell＝27.08 inches)
  • Jersey: ell, 4 feet
  • N. Borneo: ella, 1 yard
  • Switzerland: elle, 0.6561 yard
  • Ottoman Turkey: Arşın, ~69 cm

In literature edit

Ells are used for measuring the length of rope in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.[16] Since Sam declares that 30 elles are "about" 18 fathoms (108 feet), he seems to be using the 45-inch English ell, which would work out to 112 feet.

In the epic poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Green Knight's axe-head was an ell (45 inches) wide.[17]

Ells were also used in the medieval French play The Farce of Master Pathelin to measure the size of the clothing Pierre Pathelin bought.[18]

Halldór Laxness described Örvar-Oddr as twelve Danish ells tall in Independent People, Part II, "Of the World".[19]

References edit

  1. ^ "ell, n.1". OED Online. December 2011. Oxford University Press. (accessed February 20, 2012).
  2. ^ The Diagonal. Yale University Press. 1920. p. 98. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  3. ^ Charlton Thomas Lewis; Hugh Macmaster Kingery (1918). An elementary Latin dictionary. American book company. p. 198. Retrieved 6 February 2012. forearm, ell, cubit.
  4. ^ James Robinson (of Boston.) (1857). The American elementary arithmetic. J.P. Jewett & co. p. 94. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  5. ^ Daniel O'Gorman (1853). Intuitive calculations; the readiest and most concise methods. p. 48. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  6. ^ infoplease.com, OED s. Ell-wand.
  7. ^ AR Littlewood. "The measurements of cricket". ESPN cricinfo.
  8. ^ Andrén, Anders (2017). Det Medeltida Gotland. En arkeologisk guidebok [Medieval Gotland. An archaeological guidebook] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Lund: Historiska Media. p. 206. ISBN 978-91-7545-476-4.
  9. ^ a b Brayshaw, Tom S., ed. Brayshaw's Mathematical Desk Companion. Chesterfield, England: Thomas Brayshaw Ltd., Edition 16, 1955
  10. ^ Nancy Marie Brown (2007). The Far Traveller: Voyages of a Viking Woman. Harcourt. pp. 236, 276. OCLC 85822467.
  11. ^ Knight, Charles (1840). The Penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volume 9. London: Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
  12. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Weights and Measures" (free fulltext), from the Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 01 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  13. ^ Concise Scots Dictionary, chief editor Mairi Robinson, Aberdeen University Press, 1987, p 817
  14. ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
  15. ^ Heywood, John (1546). A dialogue conteinying the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the englishe tongue, compacte in a matter concernyng two maner of mariages, etc. London: Thomas Berthelet. Full text of 1874 reprint
  16. ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1997). The Lord of the Rings. HarperCollins. pp. 595–6. ISBN 0-261-10368-7. Sam paid it out slowly, measuring it with his arms: 'Five, ten, twenty, thirty ells, more or less, ... Thirty ells, or say, about eighteen fathom'
  17. ^ Burrow, J. A., ed. (1972). Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin. p. 22. ISBN 0140806679. OCLC 1136028. The lenkthe of an elnyerde the large hed had
  18. ^ "The farce of Master Pierre Patelin" (PDF). sas.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  19. ^ Laxness, Halldór (1997) [1946]. Sjálfstætt fólk [Independent People]. Translated by Thompson, J. A. (James Anderson). Introduction by Brad Leithauser. New York: Vintage. p. 201. ISBN 0-679-76792-4.
Attribution
  • This article incorporates text from Dwelly's [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary (1911). See p. 861.

Further reading edit

  • Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland
  • Scottish National Dictionary and Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue
  • Weights and Measures, by D. Richard Torrance, SAFHS, Edinburgh, 1996, ISBN 1-874722-09-9 (N.B.: The book focusses exclusively on Scottish weights and measures.)

External links edit

  •   Media related to Ell at Wikimedia Commons

January 01, 1970
this, article, about, unit, length, letter, other, uses, disambiguation, aune, redirects, here, surname, aune, surname, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, articl. This article is about the unit of length For the letter see L For other uses see Ell disambiguation Aune redirects here For the surname see Aune surname This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations November 2022 Learn how and when to remove this message An ell from Proto Germanic alinō cognate with Latin ulna 1 is a northwestern European unit of measurement originally understood as a cubit the combined length of the forearm and extended hand The word literally means arm and survives in the form of the modern English word elbow arm bend Later usage through the 19th century refers to several longer units 2 3 some of which are thought to derive from a double ell 4 5 EllThe ell was originally a cubit later replaced by the cloth ell or double ell General informationUnit ofLengthConversions imperial 1 imp unit in is equal to Inch 45 Metre 1 143 Historic standard units of the city of Regensburg from left to right a fathom Klafter foot Schuch and ell Oln An ell wand or ellwand was a rod of length one ell used for official measurement Edward I of England required that every town have one In Scotland the Belt of Orion was called the King s Ellwand 6 7 An iron ellwand is preserved in the entrance to Stanga Church on the Swedish island of Gotland indicating the role that rural churches had in disseminating uniform measures 8 Several national forms existed with different lengths including the Scottish ell 37 inches or 94 centimetres the Flemish ell el 27 in or 68 6 cm the French ell aune 54 in or 137 2 cm 9 the Polish ell 31 in or 78 7 cm the Danish alen 24 Danish inches or 2 Danish fod 62 7708 cm the Swedish aln 2 Swedish fot 59 38 cm and the German ell Elle of different lengths in Frankfurt 54 7 cm Cologne Leipzig Saxony or Hamburg Select customs were observed by English importers of Dutch textiles although all cloths were bought by the Flemish ell linen was sold by the English ell but tapestry was sold by the Flemish ell 9 The Viking ell was the measure from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger about 18 inches 460 mm The Viking or primitive ell was used in Iceland up to the 13th century By the 13th century a law set the stika as equal to 2 ells which was the English ell of the time 10 Contents 1 Historic use 1 1 England 1 2 Scots 1 3 Other 2 In literature 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksHistoric use editEngland edit In England the ell was usually exactly 45 in 1 143 m or a yard and a quarter It was mainly used in the tailoring business but is now obsolete Although the exact length was never defined in English law standards were kept the brass ell examined at the Exchequer by Graham in the 1740s had been in use since the time of Queen Elizabeth 11 Other English measures called an ell include the yard and handful or 40 in ell abolished in 1439 the yard and inch or 37 in ell a cloth measure abolished after 1553 and known later as the Scotch ell 37 06 and the cloth ell of 45 in used until 1600 12 See yard for details Scots edit The Scottish ell Scottish Gaelic slat Albannach is approximately 37 inches 0 94 m The Scottish ell was standardised in 1661 with the exemplar to be kept in the custody of Edinburgh 13 It comes from Middle English elle 14 It was used in the popular expression Gie im an inch an he ll tak an ell equivalent to Give him an inch and he ll take a mile or he ll take a yard and closely similar to the English proverb Give him an inch and he ll take an ell first published as For when I gave you an inch you tooke an ell by John Heywood in 1546 15 The Ell Shop 1757 in Dunkeld Perth and Kinross National Trust for Scotland is so called from the 18th century iron ell stick attached to one corner once used to measure cloth and other commodities in the adjacent market place The shaft of the 17th century Kincardine mercat cross stands in the square of Fettercairn and is notched to show the measurements of an ell Scottish measures were made obsolete and English measurements made standard in Scotland by an Act of Parliament the Weights and Measures Act 1824 nbsp The Dunkeld ell explained on an information board outside The Ell Shop Other edit Similar measures include 12 Netherlands el 1 metre Old ell 27 08 inches Jersey ell 4 feet N Borneo ella 1 yard Switzerland elle 0 6561 yard Ottoman Turkey Arsin 69 cmIn literature editElls are used for measuring the length of rope in J R R Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings 16 Since Sam declares that 30 elles are about 18 fathoms 108 feet he seems to be using the 45 inch English ell which would work out to 112 feet In the epic poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the Green Knight s axe head was an ell 45 inches wide 17 Ells were also used in the medieval French play The Farce of Master Pathelin to measure the size of the clothing Pierre Pathelin bought 18 Halldor Laxness described Orvar Oddr as twelve Danish ells tall in Independent People Part II Of the World 19 References edit ell n 1 OED Online December 2011 Oxford University Press accessed February 20 2012 The Diagonal Yale University Press 1920 p 98 Retrieved 6 February 2012 Charlton Thomas Lewis Hugh Macmaster Kingery 1918 An elementary Latin dictionary American book company p 198 Retrieved 6 February 2012 forearm ell cubit James Robinson of Boston 1857 The American elementary arithmetic J P Jewett amp co p 94 Retrieved 6 February 2012 Daniel O Gorman 1853 Intuitive calculations the readiest and most concise methods p 48 Retrieved 6 February 2012 infoplease com OED s Ell wand AR Littlewood The measurements of cricket ESPN cricinfo Andren Anders 2017 Det Medeltida Gotland En arkeologisk guidebok Medieval Gotland An archaeological guidebook in Swedish 2nd ed Lund Historiska Media p 206 ISBN 978 91 7545 476 4 a b Brayshaw Tom S ed Brayshaw s Mathematical Desk Companion Chesterfield England Thomas Brayshaw Ltd Edition 16 1955 Nancy Marie Brown 2007 The Far Traveller Voyages of a Viking Woman Harcourt pp 236 276 OCLC 85822467 Knight Charles 1840 The Penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge Volume 9 London Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge a b Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Weights and Measures free fulltext from the Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 01 11th ed Cambridge University Press Concise Scots Dictionary chief editor Mairi Robinson Aberdeen University Press 1987 p 817 Dictionary of the Scots Language Archived from the original on 2012 03 21 Retrieved 2011 08 09 Heywood John 1546 A dialogue conteinying the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the englishe tongue compacte in a matter concernyng two maner of mariages etc London Thomas Berthelet Full text of 1874 reprint Tolkien J R R 1997 The Lord of the Rings HarperCollins pp 595 6 ISBN 0 261 10368 7 Sam paid it out slowly measuring it with his arms Five ten twenty thirty ells more or less Thirty ells or say about eighteen fathom Burrow J A ed 1972 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Harmondsworth England Penguin p 22 ISBN 0140806679 OCLC 1136028 The lenkthe of an elnyerde the large hed had The farce of Master Pierre Patelin PDF sas ac uk Retrieved 11 April 2024 Laxness Halldor 1997 1946 Sjalfstaett folk Independent People Translated by Thompson J A James Anderson Introduction by Brad Leithauser New York Vintage p 201 ISBN 0 679 76792 4 Attribution This article incorporates text fromDwelly s Scottish Gaelic Dictionary 1911 See p 861 Further reading editCollins Encyclopedia of Scotland Scottish National Dictionary and Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue Weights and Measures by D Richard Torrance SAFHS Edinburgh 1996 ISBN 1 874722 09 9 N B The book focusses exclusively on Scottish weights and measures External links edit nbsp Media related to Ell at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ell amp oldid 1218418727, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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