The ''minot'' () is an old unit of dry

volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...

, used in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

prior to

metrication Metrication or metrification is the act or process of converting to the metric system of measurement. All over the world, countries have transitioned from local and traditional units of measurement to the metric system. This process began in F ...

. The unit was equivalent to three French bushels (''boisseaux''), half a ''mine'', and one quarter of a ''setier''. The size of the ''minot'' is comparable to the US and Imperial

bushel A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an imperial and US customary unit of volume based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel is equal to 2 kennings (obsolete), 4 pecks, or 8 dry gallons, and was used mostly for agricult ...

s. The name ''minot'' derives from the larger unit, the ''mine'', with an -ot diminutive suffixed. The term ''mine'' in this case derives from the same

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

origin as the word

hemisphere Hemisphere refers to: * A half of a sphere As half of the Earth * A hemisphere of Earth ** Northern Hemisphere ** Southern Hemisphere ** Eastern Hemisphere ** Western Hemisphere ** Land and water hemispheres * A half of the (geocentric) celes ...

, and refers to half of the larger ''setier''. The volumetric ''mine'' should not be confused with the mass unit mina, which is also called a ''mine'' in French. As the French bushel was defined as 10/27 of a cubic French royal foot, or 640 cubic French royal inches, the ''minot'' was 1920 cubic French royal inches, corresponding to about 38.086

litre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...

s. In

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

the minot was used for

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

and salt measurement. Later on, there was also a minot de Paris based on exactly one cubic French royal foot, which is equivalent to 34.277 litres. The ancient Roman

amphora An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...

shared a similar definition (one cubic Roman foot). It was itself divided into three units, similar to the ''minot''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minot (Volume) Units of volume

See also

References