# Ell

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Unit of length

"Aune" redirects here. For the surname, see [Aune (surname)](/source/Aune_(surname)). For the letter, see [L](/source/L). For other uses, see [Ell (disambiguation)](/source/Ell_(disambiguation)).

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Ell The ell was originally a cubit, later replaced by the cloth-ell or "double ell". General information Unit of Length Conversions (imperial) 1 imp unit in ... ... is equal to ... inch 17.7 Metre 0.45

Historic standard units of the city of [Regensburg](/source/Regensburg): from left to right, a [fathom](/source/Fathom) (*Klafter*), [foot](/source/Foot_(unit)) (*Schuch*) and ell (*Öln*)

Prussian ell

An **ell** (from [Proto-Germanic](/source/Proto-Germanic_language) **alinō*, cognate with [Latin](/source/Latin) *[ulna](/source/Ulna)*)[1] is a northwestern European [unit of measurement](/source/Units_of_measurement), originally understood as a [cubit](/source/Cubit) (the combined length of the forearm and extended hand). The word literally means "arm", and survives in 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]

An **ell-wand** or **ellwand** was a rod of length one ell used for official measurement. [Edward I of England](/source/Edward_I_of_England) required that every town have one. In Scotland, the [Belt of Orion](/source/Belt_of_Orion) was called "the King's Ellwand".[6][7] An iron ellwand is preserved in the entrance to [Stånga Church](/source/St%C3%A5nga_Church) on the Swedish island of [Gotland](/source/Gotland), indicating the role that rural churches had in disseminating uniform measures.[8]

Several national forms existed, with different lengths, including the [Scottish ell](#Scots) (≈37 inches or 94 centimetres), the [Flemish](/source/Dutch_units_of_measurement#El) ell [el] (≈27 in or 68.6 cm), the [French](/source/Traditional_French_units_of_measurement) ell [aune] (≈54 in or 137.2 cm),[9] the [Polish](/source/Polish_units_of_measurement) ell (≈31 in or 78.7 cm), the [Danish](/source/Danish_units_of_measurement#Length) alen (24 Danish inches or 2 Danish fod: 62.7708 cm), the [Swedish](/source/Swedish_units_of_measurement) aln (2 Swedish fot 59.38 cm), and the [German](/source/German_units_of_measurement) ell [*Elle*], which was different lengths in Frankfurt (54.7 cm), Cologne, Leipzig ([Saxony](/source/Kingdom_of_Saxony)), and Hamburg.

Select customs were observed by English [importers](/source/Import) of Dutch [textiles](/source/Textiles); although all cloths were bought by the Flemish ell, [linen](/source/Linen) was sold by the English ell, but [tapestry](/source/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 two ells, which referred to the English ell.[10]

## Historical use

### England

In England, the ell was usually one-and-a-quarter yards, which is 45 in (1.143 m). It was mainly used in the [tailoring](/source/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](/source/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 the 40 inch ell, abolished in 1439; the yard and inch, or the 37 inch ell (a cloth measure), abolished after 1553, later known as the [Scotch ell](/source/Scotch_ell) 37.06 inches (0.941 m); and the cloth ell of 45 inches, used until 1600.[12] See [yard](/source/Yard) for details.

### Scots

The **Scottish ell** ([Scottish Gaelic](/source/Scottish_Gaelic_language): *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](/source/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](/source/Yard)").

[The Ell Shop](/source/The_Ell_House) (1757) in [Dunkeld](/source/Dunkeld), [Perth and Kinross](/source/Perth_and_Kinross) ([National Trust for Scotland](/source/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](/source/Mercat_cross) stands in the square of [Fettercairn](/source/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](/source/Weights_and_Measures_Act_1824).

The [Dunkeld](/source/Dunkeld) ell explained on an information board outside [The Ell Shop](/source/The_Ell_House)

The [Ell Shop](/source/The_Ell_House) iron ell attached to the wall

### Other

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

In the epic poem *[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight](/source/Sir_Gawain_and_the_Green_Knight)*, the Green Knight's axe-head was an ell (45 inches) wide.[15]

Ells were also used in the medieval French play [*The Farce of Master Pathelin*](/source/La_Farce_de_ma%C3%AEtre_Pathelin) to measure the size of the clothing Pierre Pathelin bought.[16]

Ells are used for measuring the length of rope in [J. R. R. Tolkien](/source/J._R._R._Tolkien)'s *[The Lord of the Rings](/source/The_Lord_of_the_Rings)*.[17] 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.

[Halldór Laxness](/source/Halld%C3%B3r_Laxness) described [Örvar-Oddr](/source/%C3%96rvar-Oddr) as twelve [Danish ells](/source/Danish_units_of_measure) tall in *[Independent People](/source/Independent_People)*, Part II, "Of the World".[18]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["ell, n.1"](http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/60511). OED Online. December 2011. Oxford University Press. (accessed February 20, 2012).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-The_Diagonal_2-0)** [*The Diagonal*](https://books.google.com/books?id=BudNAAAAYAAJ&q=%22the+ell+was+originally+the+same+measure+as+the+cubit%22&pg=PA98). Yale University Press. 1920. p. 98. Retrieved 6 February 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-LewisKingery1918_3-0)** Charlton Thomas Lewis; Hugh Macmaster Kingery (1918). [*An elementary Latin dictionary*](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_2ncKAAAAIAAJ). American book company. p. [198](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_2ncKAAAAIAAJ/page/n204). Retrieved 6 February 2012. forearm, ell, cubit.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Boston.)1857_4-0)** James Robinson (of Boston.) (1857). [*The American elementary arithmetic*](https://books.google.com/books?id=klYMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA94). J.P. Jewett & co. p. 94. Retrieved 6 February 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-O'Gorman1853_5-0)** Daniel O'Gorman (1853). [*Intuitive calculations; the readiest and most concise methods*](https://archive.org/details/intuitivecalcul00ogogoog). p. [48](https://archive.org/details/intuitivecalcul00ogogoog/page/n54). Retrieved 6 February 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [infoplease.com](http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/brewers/ell-wand.html), *OED* *s.* Ell-wand.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** AR Littlewood. ["The measurements of cricket"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071112165502/http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/89685.html). ESPN cricinfo. Archived from [the original](http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/89685.html) on 2007-11-12. Retrieved 2007-11-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-stanga_8-0)** Andrén, Anders (2017). *Det Medeltida Gotland. En arkeologisk guidebok* [*Medieval Gotland. An archaeological guidebook*] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Lund: Historiska Media. p. 206. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-91-7545-476-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-91-7545-476-4).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Brayshaws_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Brayshaws_9-1) Brayshaw, Tom S., ed. *Brayshaw's Mathematical Desk Companion*. Chesterfield, England: Thomas Brayshaw Ltd., Edition 16, 1955

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Nancy Marie Brown (2007). *The Far Traveller: Voyages of a Viking Woman*. Harcourt. pp. 236, 276. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [85822467](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/85822467).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-knight_11-0)** Knight, Charles (1840). [*The Penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volume 9*](https://books.google.com/books?id=-BHnAAAAMAAJ). London: Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-enbrit_ell_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-enbrit_ell_12-1) Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "[Weights and Measures](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Weights_and_Measures)" (free fulltext), from the *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 01 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** *Concise Scots Dictionary*, chief editor Mairi Robinson, Aberdeen University Press, 1987, p 817

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Dictionary of the Scots Language"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120321185041/http://www.dsl.ac.uk/getent4.php?plen=2873&startset=14827060&query=Ell&fhit=ell&dregion=form&dtext=dost#fhit). Archived from [the original](http://www.dsl.ac.uk/getent4.php?plen=2873&startset=14827060&query=Ell&fhit=ell&dregion=form&dtext=dost#fhit) on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2011-08-09.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Burrow, J. A., ed. (1972). *Sir Gawain and the Green Knight*. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin. p. 22. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0140806679](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0140806679). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [1136028](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1136028). The lenkthe of an elnyerde the large hed had

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["The farce of Master Pierre Patelin"](https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/pdf/ebh410b2451866.pdf) (PDF). *sas.ac.uk*. Retrieved 11 April 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-TLotR_17-0)** [Tolkien, J. R. R.](/source/Tolkien) (1997). [*The Lord of the Rings*](/source/The_Lord_of_the_Rings). [HarperCollins](/source/HarperCollins). pp. 595–6. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-261-10368-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/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](/source/Fathom)'

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** [Laxness, Halldór](/source/Halld%C3%B3r_Laxness) (1997) [1946]. *Sjálfstætt fólk* [*Independent People*]. Translated by [Thompson, J. A. (James Anderson)](/source/J._A._Thompson). Introduction by [Brad Leithauser](/source/Brad_Leithauser). New York: [Vintage](/source/Vintage_Books). p. 201. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-679-76792-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-679-76792-4).

**Attribution**

- *This article incorporates text from*[Dwelly's](/source/Edward_Dwelly) [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary*(1911)*. *See [p. 861](https://archive.org/details/Dwelly/page/850/mode/2up).*

## Further reading

- *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](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-874722-09-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-874722-09-9) (N.B.: The book focusses exclusively on Scottish weights and measures.)

## External links

- Media related to [Ell](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ell) at Wikimedia Commons

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