List of obsolete units of measurement

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This is a list of obsolete units of measurement, sorted by type. These units of measurement are typically no longer used in contemporary times, though some may be in limited use in various regions.

Area

Energy, etc.

Length

  • Ald
  • Alen
  • Aṅgula
  • Arabic mile
  • Arş and Arşın - two Turkish units of length.
  • Bamboo (unit) - also known as the Burmese league
  • Buddam (unit)
  • Button (unit) – a unit of length which has been used in the UK.[1] Defined as 1/12 inch (approx. 2 mm).
  • Cana – a unit of length used in the former Crown of Aragon.[2] It is around the same value as the vara of Aragon,[2] a seldom used Spanish and Portuguese unit of length.
  • Cubit [3]
  • Ell
  • Girah
  • Guz
  • Hat'h
  • Jow
  • Lachter – a once common unit of length 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 most fields in the German-speaking countries, it was the primary unit of length.
  • Ligne - a French unit of length, roughly equal to 2.25 millimetres, or 9 points (1 point = 0.01 inches).
  • Line
  • Macedonian cubit
  • Pace
  • Palm
  • Parasang
  • Pes
  • Pyramid inch - a unit of length, believed to be equal to 1/25th of the cubit.
  • Rod
  • Sana lamjel
  • Spat - a unit of length, equal to 1,000,000,000 km.
  • Stadion
  • Step
  • Unglie
  • Yojana – a Vedic measure of distance that was used in ancient India. It is equivalent to about 13 km (8 mi) for terrestrial use and 6400 km for cosmological distances as per modern measures of distance, although the exact value is disputed among scholars (between 8 and 13 km (5 and 8 mi))

Luminosity (light intensity)

A Hefner lamp (German: Hefnerkerze)
  • Candlepower – an obsolete unit expressing luminous intensity equal to 0.981 candela, it expresses levels of light intensity in terms of the light emitted by a candle of specific size and constituents. In modern usage candlepower equates directly to the unit known as the candela.
  • 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 (weight)

Volume (dry and liquid)

These are glass milk bottles from 1950s Quebec. The large bottle is a pinte (quart), the middle size a chopine (pint) and the small size a demiard (½-pint).[7] The latter was used for cream.
  • Acetabulum
  • Adowlie
  • Amphora
  • Aum
  • Belshazzar (unit)
  • Botella − The Spanish for "bottle", which has been given various standard capacities at different times and places, and for different fluids contained.[8] Often cited figures include 0.95 liters in Cuba (1796), 0.75 liters in Cuba (1862) and 0.7 liters in Colombia (1957).[9]
  • Bucket
  • Butt
  • Chungah
  • Congius
  • Coomb
  • Cord-foot – was a US unit of volume for stacked firewood. Symbol for the unit was cd-ft.[6] 1 Cord-foot≡ 16 cubic foot,[6] 1 Cord-foot≡ 0.453 m3.
  • Cotyla
  • Cran
  • Cullishigay
  • Deal – a former U.K. and U.S. unit of volume for stacked firewood.[1] Deal (UK) is equal to 7 ft × 6 ft × 5/2 in.[1] Deal (US) is equal to 12 ft × 11 in × 3/2 in.[1]
  • Demiard – a traditional French measure of volume which, after the French revolution introduced new decimal systems, persisted in French-speaking areas of North America such as Quebec and Louisiana. It was originally half of an ard but came to mean a half of a chopine or a quarter of a pinte. The French pinte was, in Paris, 48 cubic inches (pouces du Roi) but, in North America, the terms became associated with Anglo-Saxon measures of a similar size (pinte≡quart; chopine≡pint; demiard≡½-pint).[10]
  • Firlot
  • Hekat
  • Homer
  • House cord – a former U.S. unit of volume for stacked firewood.[6]
  • Kile
  • Koku
  • Lambda - an uncommon metric unit of volume, discontinued with the introduction of the SI.
  • London quarter
  • Lump of butter – used in the United States, (at least) up to the time of the American Revolutionary War. It equaled "one well rounded tablespoon".[11]
  • Masu
  • Metretes
  • Octave
  • Omer
  • Pau
  • Peck - the name of two different units of volume, one imperial and one U.S. Both equal to about 9 litres.
  • Puddee
  • Salt spoon – used in the United States, (at least) up to the time of the American Revolutionary War. Four salt spoons equaled one teaspoon.[11]
  • Seah
  • Ser
  • Shipping ton - a unit of volume, defined as 100 cubic feet.
  • Stuck
  • Wineglass – used in the United States, (at least) up to the time of the American Revolutionary War. One wineglass equaled 1/4 cup, and four wineglasses thus equaled one cup.[11]

Assorted other articles

  • Apothecaries' system
  • Atom (time) - a hypothetical unit of time used in the Middle Ages.
  • Bahar - was 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.
  • Dimi (metric prefix) – a discontinued non-SI metric prefix for 10−4.[12]
  • 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.
  • Leiden scale
  • Mache
  • Mesures usuelles
  • Newton scale – a temperature scale devised by Isaac Newton in 1701.[13]
  • Perch - most commonly a unit of area, but sometimes a unit of length or volume.
  • Pièze - a unit of pressure.
  • 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 L).
  • 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

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By geography

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References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":0" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":0" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":0" defined multiple times with different content
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Quote: "Catalonia has its own units, the media cana (length) being approximately of the same value as the varas of Aragon".
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ sizes.com lists figures for bottles in Bolivia from 460 ml to 1 liter.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ published anonymously as "Scala graduum Caloris. Calorum Descriptiones & signa." in Philosophical Transactions, 1701, 824–829; ed. Joannes Nichols, Isaaci Newtoni Opera quae exstant omnia, vol. 4 (1782), 403–407. Mark P. Silverman, A Universe of Atoms, An Atom in the Universe, Springer, 2002, p. 49.
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