• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Staff
    • Contact Us
  • Contribute

SPIRE MAGAZINE

Earnest Perspectives on Changing Landscapes

  • View spiremag’s profile on Facebook
  • View spiremag’s profile on Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • International
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Local
    • FSU Politics and Social Change
  • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Book Reviews
    • Music
      • Bops and Flops
  • Perspectives
  • Interviews
  • Series
    • Collegiate Lenses
    • The F Word : Feminist Perspectives
    • Words You Don’t Know
    • Bops and Flops
You are here: Home / Words You Don't Know / Words You Don’t Know: Ell
Words You Don’t Know: Ell

Words You Don’t Know: Ell

November 30, 2018 by Emily Pacenti and Alanna Felton Leave a Comment

Before international standardization boards regulated everything from street signs to keyboards, individual cultures and cities had to regulate things themselves. For specific industries, the number of measurements proliferated, leaving the Enlightenment thinkers with the laborious task of setting up standardized systems of measurement. For those who didn’t have the luxury of standardized weights and measures, specifically those merchants, and specifically for the ones who lived in Medieval Flanders, you had to be familiar with the ell.

The ell, measured as the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand, had been around for ages. The Ancient Egyptians regulated it on rods, called cubit rods, for imperial measurements. The ancient cubit is even mentioned in Genesis, where Noah’s ark is said to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. After around a thousand years, after the formalities had changed, traders still used the ell, the original basis for the cubit, to conduct trade.

This was especially prominent in the trading powerhouse that was Medieval Flanders, which produced high-quality cloth for export during the Dark Ages. Without standardization, rolls of cloth were measured and sold by the ell. However, the rough nature of the estimates still begged for some sort of standardization. Eventually, a few would roll around, and even travel overseas to new European colonies, but for the twelfth-century merchants of Europe, an arm suited them fine.

Build your vocabulary with the rest of Spire Magazine’s Words You Don’t Know series.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Print

Filed Under: Words You Don't Know

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Featured Posts

The Intersectionality of Masculine Norms and Eating Disorders

The Intersectionality of Masculine Norms and Eating Disorders

“It’s Too F***ing Late” : 15 Protesters Arrested by TPD

“It’s Too F***ing Late” : 15 Protesters Arrested by TPD

“Everyone Started Running and Screaming” : Tallahassee Man Pulls Gun on Protesters

“Everyone Started Running and Screaming” : Tallahassee Man Pulls Gun on Protesters

Connect With Us

Connect With Us

Official Spotify (Click Image)

Categories

  • Book Reviews
  • Bops and Flops
  • Collegiate Lenses
  • Economics
  • Entertainment
  • Featured
  • FSU Politics and Social Change
  • International
  • Interviews
  • Local
  • Music
  • Music Reviews
  • Perspectives
  • Politics
  • Science
  • The F Word : Feminist Perspectives
  • TV Reviews
  • Uncategorized
  • Words You Don't Know

Follow Us On Twitter

My Tweets

Popular Tags

Africa Bops and Flops China Cold War Colonialism Colonization Diversity Egypt entertainment Fashion feminism Film Finance Florida Florida State University Football FSU Gender Gun Violence History Horror Human Rights Interview Latin America LGTBQ Literature local Middle East Music music review perspectives politics Racism Science sga Space Sports Syria Syrian Civil War Tallahassee Television The F Word Video Games Women words you dont know

Secondary Sidebar

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017

Categories

  • Book Reviews
  • Bops and Flops
  • Collegiate Lenses
  • Economics
  • Entertainment
  • Featured
  • FSU Politics and Social Change
  • International
  • Interviews
  • Local
  • Music
  • Music Reviews
  • Perspectives
  • Politics
  • Science
  • The F Word : Feminist Perspectives
  • TV Reviews
  • Uncategorized
  • Words You Don't Know

Recent Posts

  • 2020 in Music : Bops and Flops
  • Ratched : The Retelling of a Classic Character Falls Short
  • The Intersectionality of Masculine Norms and Eating Disorders
  • November in Music: Bops and Flops
  • As More Remote Learning Looms, Students Organize for Reimbursement

Copyright © 2021 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in