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Length/Distance | Convert from twain to shaftment [ancient] |
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Common Length Conversions Metric Length Conversions Unit Definition (twain) The twain is an old word for the number two, derived from the Anglo-Saxon twegen. The American author Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), who had been a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi in his youth, took his literary name from a traditional riverboat phrase "mark twain", meaning "exactly two" fathoms of water. This was the minimum depth needed for the boats to operate safely without running aground. Unit Definition (shaftment [ancient]) A shaftment, when used as a unit of length, is usually six inches or two palms, i.e. 15.24 cm (for the international inch). It is thought to be the distance from the tip of the outstretched thumb to the other side of the palm.In English this unit has mostly fallen out of use, as do others based on the human arm: digit (1/8 shaftment), finger (7/48 shaftment), palm (½ shaftment) hand (2/3 shaftment), span (1½ shaftments), cubit (3 shaftments) and ell (7½ shaftments).
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