![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordell (EL) - n., a unit of length used especially for cloth of varying lengths in different countries, specifically 45 inches (114 cm) in England.
In England, the ell (or Old English eln) was originally the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, IOW a cubit, but when used for cloth a double-ell was used, eventually called just an ell. It eventually standardized to a yard and a quarter, or 45 in for most cloths (tapestries were sold by the Flemish ell, which was about 27 in / 68 cm). Interestingly, the English ell was never defined by statute. That Old English eln is from Proto-Germanic *alinō, from PIE *Heh₃l-én-eh₂, from *Heh₃l-, elbow/forearm, making it cognate with Latin ulna.
---L.
In England, the ell (or Old English eln) was originally the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, IOW a cubit, but when used for cloth a double-ell was used, eventually called just an ell. It eventually standardized to a yard and a quarter, or 45 in for most cloths (tapestries were sold by the Flemish ell, which was about 27 in / 68 cm). Interestingly, the English ell was never defined by statute. That Old English eln is from Proto-Germanic *alinō, from PIE *Heh₃l-én-eh₂, from *Heh₃l-, elbow/forearm, making it cognate with Latin ulna.
---L.
