Cubit
['kjuːbɪt] or ['kjubɪt]
Definition
(noun.) an ancient unit of length based on the length of the forearm.
Inputed by Clinton--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The forearm; the ulna, a bone of the arm extending from elbow to wrist.
(n.) A measure of length, being the distance from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger.
Inputed by Addie
Definition
n. a measure employed by the ancients equal to the length of the arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle-finger from 18 to 22 inches—also Cū′bitus.—adj. Cū′bital of the length of a cubit.
Editor: Pedro
Examples
- When we measure or weigh we apply a standard and count the times that the unit--cubit, pound, hour--is found to repeat itself. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- When a man cannot measure, and a great many others who cannot measure declare that he is four cubits high, can he help believing what they say? Plato. The Republic.
- There were four clocks in the observatory, of which the largest had three wheels, one wheel of pure sol id brass having twelve hundred teeth and a diameter of two cubits. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
Editor: Winthrop