Span (length)

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Hand-derived units of measurement: 1: Shaftment 2: Hand or handbreadth, commonly used to represent the width of the palm, sometimes including the thumb when closed against the palm 3: Palm, sometimes also represented by four fingers held together, which is slightly less than the true width of the palm at the knuckle 4: Span 5: Finger or fingerbreadth 6: Digit slightly smaller than a finger)
Hand-derived units of measurement:
1: Shaftment
2: Hand or handbreadth, commonly used to represent the width of the palm, sometimes including the thumb when closed against the palm
3: Palm, sometimes also represented by four fingers held together, which is slightly less than the true width of the palm at the knuckle
4: Span
5: Finger or fingerbreadth
6: Digit slightly smaller than a finger)


Span is the width of a human hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the pinky finger. In ancient times, a span was considered to be 1/2 cubit. See also: English unit

1 span 
= 9 inches
= 0.2286 m

In Slavic languages, the analogue of span is pyad (peti, пядь). It is the width from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the forefinger. See also: Obsolete Russian weights and measures

1 pyad 
= 4 vershok
= 7 inches
= 0.1778 m

In Swahili, the equivalent of span is futuri. [1]

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