{{Short description|Unit of weight}} __NOTOC__ The '''wey''' or '''weight''' (Old English: {{lang|ang|ƿæᵹe}}, ''waege'', <small>{{abbr|lit.|literally}}</small> "weight")<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictW.html |title=How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement: W |last=Rowlett |first=Russ |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811212038/http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictW.html |archive-date=11 August 2018}}</ref> was an English unit of weight<!--not mass--> and dry volume by at least 900 AD, when it began to be mentioned in surviving legal codes.
==Weight== A statute of Edgar the Peaceful set a price floor on wool by threatening both the seller and purchaser who agreed to trade a wool wey for less than 120 pence{{refn|2 Edgar c. 8<ref>{{ Citation |last=Thorpe |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Thorpe | title=Ancient Laws and Institutes of England; Comprising Laws enacted under the Anglo-Saxon Kings from Æthelbirht to Cnut, With<!--sic--> an English Translation of the Saxon; The<!--sic--> Laws called Edward the Confessor's; The<!--sic--> Laws of William the Conqueror, and those ascribed to Henry the First: Also,<!--sic--> Monumenta Ecclesiastica Anglicana, From<!--sic--> the Seventh to the Tenth Century; And<!--sic--> the Ancient Latin Version of the Anglo-Saxon Laws. With<!--sic--> a Compendious Glossary, &c. | publisher=Commissioners of the Public Records of the Kingdom |date=1840 |contribution=The Laws of King Edgar |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIdCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA113 |location=London |page=113}}. {{in lang|ang}} & {{in lang|la}} & {{in lang|en}}</ref>}} (i.e., ½ pound of sterling silver per wey), but the wey itself varied over time and by location. The wey was standardized as 14 stones of 12½ merchants' pounds each (175 lbs. or around 76.5 kg)<!--More detailed figure inappropriate for pre-20th century--> by the time of the Assize of Weights and Measures {{circa|lk=no|1300}}. This wey was applied to lead, soap, and cheese, as well as wool. 2 wey made a sack, 12 a load, and 24 a last.<ref>The Assize of Weights and Measures. {{circa|lk=no|1300}}.</ref>
The wool wey was later figured as 2 hundredweight of 8 stone of 14 avoirdupois pounds each (224 lbs. or about 101.7 kg).<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title = Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins.|last = Cardarelli| first=F. |publisher = Springer|year = 2003|isbn = 978-1-4471-1122-1|location = London|pages = 49}}</ref>
The Suffolk wey was 356 avoirdupois pounds (around 161.5 kg).<!--More detailed figure inappropriate for pre-20th century--> It was used as a measure for butter and cheese.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title = Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins.|last = Cardarelli|first = F.|publisher = Springer|year = 2003|isbn = 978-1-4471-1122-1|location = London|pages = 46}}</ref>
==Volume== As a measure of volume for dry commodities, it denoted roughly 40 bushels or {{convert|320|impgal|L|lk=on|abbr=off}}.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title = Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins.|last = Cardarelli|first = F.|publisher = Springer|year = 2003|isbn = 978-1-4471-1122-1|location = London|pages = 23}}</ref>
==See also== * English units * Stone, sack, last, & load * Whey (unit)
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Units of mass Category:Units of volume Category:Obsolete English units of measurement {{Unit-measurement-stub}}