The Paris point is a
unit of length
A unit of length refers to any arbitrarily chosen and accepted reference standard for measurement of length. The most common units in modern use are the metric units, used in every country globally. In the United States the U.S. customary units ...
defined as . It is commonly used for
shoe sizes
A shoe size is an indication of the fitting size of a shoe for a person.
There are a number of different shoe-size systems used worldwide. While all shoe sizes use a number to indicate the length of the shoe, they differ in exactly what they me ...
in Continental Europe.
The unit was invented by French shoemakers in the early 1800s. Its origin probably lies in centimetre being very close to inch; a French inch is around 27 mm, a quarter of that is 6.7 mm, close to 6. mm defined for the Paris point.
See also
*
Point (disambiguation)
*
Barleycorn (unit)
The barleycorn is an English unit of length equal to of an inch (i.e. about ). It is still used as the basis of shoe sizes in English-speaking countries.
History
Under the c. AD 1300 Composition of Yards and Perches, one of the statutes ...
, used in the English shoe sizing system.
References
Units of length
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