A span is the distance measured by a human

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...

, from the tip of the

thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...

to the tip of the little finger. In ancient times, a span was considered to be half a cubit. Sometimes the distinction is made between the great span or full span (thumb to little finger) and little span or short span (thumb to index finger, or index finger to little finger).

History

Ancient Greek texts show that the span was used as a fixed measure in ancient Greece since at least archaic period. The word ''spithame'' ( Greek: "σπιθαμή"), "span", is attested in the work of Herodotus in the 5th century BC; however, the span was used in Greece long before that, since the word ''trispithamos'' (Greek: "τρισπίθαμος"), "three spans long", occurs as early as the 8th century BC in

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

. Hesiod, ''Works and Days'', 426, o
Perseus Digital Library
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Size of the span

English usage

; 1 span := 9

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") ...

es := 22.86 cm

Chinese usage

In China and Chinese cultured countries, a span (一拃) refers to the distance between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the outstretched index finger (sometimes middle finger), and typically measures 15-20 centimetres.

Arabic usage

In Arabic, the analogue of the great span is the ''šibr'' (شبر). It is used in Modern Standard Arabic and

classical Arabic Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...

, as well as in modern-day dialects.

Slavic usage

In Slavic languages, the analogue of the span is various words derived from Proto-Slavic *''pędь'' (

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

''педя'',

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

''piędź'', Russian ''пядь'',

Slovenian Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...

''ped'', etc.). In various Slavic languages it is the distance from the tip of the

to the tip of the little finger or index finger. For example, Slovenian ''velika ped'' = great span (23 cm), ''mala ped'' = little span (9.5 cm); Russian ''piad'' = 4 '' vershoks'' = 17.8 cm. See

Obsolete Russian weights and measures A native system of weights and measures was used in Imperial Russia and after the Russian Revolution, but it was abandoned after 21 July 1925, when the Soviet Union adopted the metric system, per the order of the Council of People's Commissars. T ...

African usage

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

, the equivalent of the great span (thumb to little finger) is the ''shubiri'' or ''shibiri'' while the little span (thumb to forefinger) is the ''morita'' or ''futuri''.

Hungarian usage

In Hungarian, the span, or ''arasz'', is occasionally used as an informal measure and occurs in two varieties: measured between the tips of the extended

and index finger, it is ''kis arasz'' (the "small arasz"); between the tips of the thumb and little finger, it is ''nagy arasz'' (the "large arasz"). The term "''arasz''," used by itself without a modifier, is usually understood as referring to the "large ''arasz''," i.e., to the "span."

South Asian usage

In Hindi- Urdu and other languages of Northern India and Pakistan, the span is commonly used as an informal measure and called ''bālisht'' (Urdu: بالشت, Hindi: बालिश्त).Norman Lockyer, "Nature," Nature Publishing Group, Macmillan Journals Ltd., 1922. In

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, it is called ''bighāt'' (বিঘত or বিঘৎ) In

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

, it is called “Weet” /वीत“. In Nepal, where this method of measurement is still used in informal context, a span is called Bhitta. In

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

, it is called "

saaN The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are members of various Khoe, Tuu, or Kxʼa-speaking indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures that are the first cultures of Southern Africa, and whose territories span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zam ...

Southeast Asian usage

In Southeast Asia, the span is used as an informal measure. In

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

and

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

, it is called "jengkal". In

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

, it is called "Khuep". In Filipino, it is called "Dangkal".

Mongolian usage

The span is commonly used as a traditional and informal measure in Mongolia, where it is called ''tuu'' (төө). Depending on the use of index or middle finger and the placement of the thumb, the span is named differently as ''tuu'' (төө) and ''mukhar tuu'' (мухар төө) etc.

Portuguese usage

The old Portuguese customary unit analogue to the span was the ''palmo de craveira'' or simply ''palmo''. ; 1 ''palmo de craveira'' := 8 ''polegadas'' (Portuguese

es) := 1/5 ''varas'' (Portuguese yards) := 0.22 m

Notes

References

*Lyle V. Jones. 1971. “The Nature of Measurement.” In: Robert L. Thorndike (ed.), ''Educational Measurement'', 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Council on Education, pp. 335–355. {{Imperial units

Span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan es ...

Imperial units Units of length