Palm (unit)
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/>