Rood (unit)
A rood (/ˈruːd/; abbreviation: ro[citation needed]) is a historic English and international inch-pound measure of area, as well as an archaic English measure of length.
Etymology
Rood is an archaic word for "pole", from
In Normandy, where the rood was also used (before being replaced by metric units around 1800), it was known as a vergée, from the French word verge (stick, rod), which was borrowed in English (see virge).
Measurement of area
Rood is an
The rood was an important measure in surveying on account of its easy conversion to acres. When referring to areas, rod is often found in old documents and has exactly the same meaning as rood.[3]
Linear measure
A rood is also an obsolete British unit of linear measure between 16+1⁄2 and 24 feet (5.0–7.3 m). It is related to the German Rute and the Danish rode.[4][5] The original OED of 1914 said this sense was "now only in local use, and varying from 6 to 8 yards" (or 18 to 24 ft, "Rood", II.7).
See also
- Rood (Scots)
- Rood screen
- List of obsolete units of measurement
References
- OED, "Rood"
- ^ Kinne, William (1829). A short system of practical arithmetic: compiled from the best authorities [etc.]. Glazier, Masters & Co. p. 29.
- ^ A catalogue of old documents with many areas quoted in acres, rods, and perches, including this one, as recent as 1907.
- ISBN 978-0-486-14497-9.
- ISBN 9780671215651.