The palm is an obsolete anthropic unit of length, originally based on the width of the human palm and then variously standardized. The same name is also used for a second, rather larger unit based on the length of the human hand.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref>
The width of the palm was a traditional unit in Ancient Egypt, Israel, Greece, and Rome and in medieval England, where it was also known as the hand,<ref name=hoed>Template:Citation.</ref>Template:Efn handbreadth,<ref name=hboed/> or handsbreadth.<ref name=hboed>Template:Citation.</ref>Template:Efn
The length of the hand—originally the Roman "greater palm"—formed the palm of medieval Italy and France. In Spanish customary units {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was the palm, while {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was the span, the distance between an outstretched thumb and little finger. In Portuguese {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was the span.Template:Cn
HistoryEdit
Ancient EgyptEdit
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The Ancient Egyptian palm (Template:Langx) has been reconstructed as about Template:Convert.Template:Efn The unit is attested as early as the reign of Djer, third pharaoh of the First Dynasty,<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> and appears on many surviving cubit-rods.<ref name=clagett/>
The palm was subdivided into four digits ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert.
Three palms made up the span ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) or lesser span ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert. Four palms made up the foot ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert. Five made up the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} of about Template:Convert. Six made up the "Greek cubit" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert. Seven made up the "royal cubit" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert. Eight made up the pole ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert.
Ancient IsraelEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The palm was not a major unit in ancient Mesopotamia but appeared in ancient Israel as the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}},<ref name=je/> {{#invoke:Lang|lang}},<ref name=hox/> or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}<ref name=hox/> (Template:Langx, Template:Abbr.Template:Nbsp"a spread").<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> Scholars were long uncertain as to whether this was reckoned using the Egyptian or Babylonian cubit,<ref name=je>Template:Citation.</ref> but now believe it to have approximated the Egyptian "Greek cubit", giving a value for the palm of about Template:Convert.<ref name=hox>Template:Citation.</ref>
As in Egypt, the palm was divided into four digits ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}<ref name=je/> or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert and three palms made up a span ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert.<ref name=hox/> Six made up the Hebrew cubit ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}<ref name=je/> or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert, although the cubits mentioned in Ezekiel<ref>Template:Bibleref, Template:Bibleref.</ref> follow the royal cubit in consisting of seven palms comprising about Template:Convert.<ref name=hox/>
Ancient GreeceEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Ancient Greek palm (Template:Langx, palaistḗ, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, dō̂ron, or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, daktylodókhmē)<ref name=greaves/> made up ¼ of the Greek foot (poûs), which varied by region between Template:Convert.<ref name=oawd>Template:Citation.</ref> This gives values for the palm between Template:Convert, with the Attic palm around Template:Convert.<ref name=aei>Template:Citation.</ref>
These various palms were divided into four digits (dáktylos) or two "middle phalanges" (kóndylos).<ref name=aei/> Two palms made a half-foot (hēmipódion or dikhás); three, a span (spithamḗ); four, a foot (poûs);<ref name=aei/> five, a short cubit (pygōn);<ref name=cox>Template:Citation.</ref> and six, a cubit (pē̂khys).<ref name=aei/>
The Greeks also had a less common "greater palm" of five digits.<ref name=hutton/>
Ancient RomeEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Roman palm (Template:Langx) or lesser palm ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) made up ¼ of the Roman foot ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), which varied in practice between Template:Convert<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> but is thought to have been officially Template:Convert.<ref name=cox/> This would have given the palm a notional value of Template:Convert within a range of a few millimeters.<ref name=brit/>
The palm was divided into four digits ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert or three inches ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert. Three made a span ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or "greater palm") of about Template:Convert;Template:Efn four, a Roman foot; five, a hand-and-a-foot ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert; six, a cubit ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert.<ref name=smith/>
Continental EuropeEdit
{{#invoke:Hatnote|hatnote}} The palms of medieval (Template:Langx)<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> and early modern Europe—the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and French {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}—were based upon the Roman "greater palm", reckoned as a hand's span or length.
In Italy, the palm (Template:Langx) varied regionally. The Genovese palm was about Template:Convert;<ref name=hutton/><ref name=greaves/>Template:Efn in the Papal States, the Roman palm about Template:Convert according to Hutton but divided into the Roman "architect's palm" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert and "merchant's palm" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) of about Template:Convert according to Greaves;<ref name=greaves/>Template:Efn and the Neapolitan palm reported as Template:Convert by Riccioli but Template:Convert by Hutton's other sources.<ref name=hutton/> On Sicily and Malta, it was Template:Convert.<ref name=palaiseau/>
In France, the palm (Template:Langx or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) was about Template:Convert in Pernes-les-Fontaines, Vaucluse,<ref name=palaiseau/> and about Template:Convert in Languedoc.<ref name=hutton/>
Palaiseau gave metric equivalents for the palme or palmo in 1816,<ref name=palaiseau/> and Rose provided English equivalents in 1900:
| City | Lignes | Metric equivalent | Inches <ref>Template:Cite book</ref> |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florence (for silk, Palaiseau p.146) | 131.63 | [297] mm | |
| Florence (for wool, Palaiseau p.146) | 128.38 | 289.6 mm | |
| Genoa (cloth measure, Palaiseau p.148) | 106.9 | 241.1 mm | |
| Genoa (linear measure, Palaiseau p.91) | 107.43 | 242.3 mm | |
| Genoa (Rose) | 247 mm | 9.72 | |
| Livorno (for silk, Palaiseau p.157) | 128.41 | 289.7 mm | |
| Livorno (for wool, Palaiseau p.157) | 130.08 | 293.4 mm | |
| Malta (cloth measure, Palaiseau p.160) | 114.49 | 258.3 mm | |
| Malta (linear measure, Palaiseau p.98) | 115.28 | 260.0 mm | |
| Naples (Rose) | 263.6 mm | 10.38 | |
| Palermo (cloth measure, Palaiseau p.168) | 107.16 | 241.7 mm | 9.53 |
| Portugal (Palaiseau p.109) | 96.36 | 217.4 mm | 8.64 |
| Rome (cloth measure, Palaiseau p.173) | 109.52 | 247.1 mm | |
| Rome (linear measure, Palaiseau p.111) | 99 | [223] mm | |
| Sardinia (Rose) | 248 mm | 9.78 | |
| Spain (Rose) | 219 mm | 8.64 | |
| Metric equivalents from Palaiseau here rounded to 0.1 mm | |||
From 19th C. Italian sources<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Antonio Pasquale Favaro. Metrologia o sia Trattato Generale delle Misure, de' Pesi e delle Monete - (in Italian) - [Metrology or General Treatise on Measures, Weights and Coins] - Gabinetto Bibliografico e Tipografico (Napoli 1826)</ref><ref>Carlo Afan de Rivera. Tavole di riduzione de' Pesi e delle misure della Sicilia Citeriore in quelli statuiti dalla legge de' 6 aprile del 1840 - (in Italian) - [Tables of Reductions of Weights and Measures of Sicilia Citeriore in those established by the Law of 6 April 1840] - Stamperia e Cartiere del Fibreno (Napoli 1840)</ref><ref>Angelo Martini. Manuale di metrologia ossia Misure, Pesi e Monete in uso attualmente e anticamente presso tutti i popoli antichi - (in Italian) - [Handbook of Metrology i.e. Measures, Weights and Coins in Current and Ancient Use by All Ancient Peoples] - Editrice E.C.A. (Roma 1976), facsimile reprint of the original Turin edition of 1883</ref> emerges that :
- the ancient Venetian palm, five of which made a passo (pace), was equivalent to 0.3774 metres.
- the Neapolitan palm = 0.26333670 metres (from 1480 to 1840)
- the Neapolitan palm = 0.26455026455 metres (according to the law of 6 April 1840)
which differs from previously cited palm measure equivalents in metres above.
EnglandEdit
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The English palm, handbreadth, or handsbreadth is three inches<ref name=phil/><ref name=mort/><ref name=perth/><ref name=buffon/> (7.62Template:Nbspcm)Template:Efn or, equivalently, four digits.<ref name=buffon/> The measurement was, however, not always well distinguished from the hand or handful,<ref name=phil/> which became equal to four inches by a 1541 statute of Henry VIII.<ref name=mort/>Template:Efn The palm was excluded from the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 that established the imperial system and is not a standard US customary unit.
ElsewhereEdit
The Moroccan palm is given by Hutton as about Template:Convert.<ref name=hutton/>