The ''ligne'' ( ), or line or Paris line, is a historic unit of length used in France and elsewhere prior to the adoption of the metric system in the late 18th century, and used in various sciences after that time. The ''loi du 19 frimaire an VIII'' (Law of 10 December 1799) states that one metre is equal to exactly 443.296 French lines. It is vestigially retained today by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

watchmakers to measure the size of watch casings, in button making and in ribbon manufacture.

Current use

Watchmaking

There are 12 ''lignes'' to one French inch (''pouce''). The standardized conversion for a ligne is 2.2558291 mm (1 mm = 0.443296 ''ligne''), and it is abbreviated with the letter L or represented by the triple prime, . One ligne is the equivalent of 0.0888 international

inch Measuring tape with inches The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to yard or of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth") ...

. This is comparable in size to the British measurement called "

line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

" (one-twelfth of an English inch), used prior to 1824. (The French inch at that time was slightly larger than the English one, but the system of 12 inches to a foot and 12 lines to an inch was the same in both cases.)

Hatmaking

''Ligne'' is used in measuring the width of ribbons in men's hat bands, at 11.26 per international inch.

Button making

The button trade uses the term ''ligne'' (sometimes "line"), but with a substantially different definition: .

Notes

References