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A toise (; symbol: T) is a unit of measure for
length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the In ...
,
area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open ...
and
volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The ...
originating in pre-revolutionary France. In North America, it was used in colonial French establishments in early
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to King ...
,
French Louisiana The term French Louisiana refers to two distinct regions: * first, to colonial French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by France during the 17th and 18th centuries; and, * second, to modern French Louisi ...
(''Louisiane''), Acadia (''Acadie'') and
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen ...
. The related () was used in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, and other parts of the
Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...
until the adoption of the
metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the definition of the Intern ...
.


Definition


Unit of length

* 1 toise was divided in 6 feet (french: pieds) or 72
inches 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"), ...
() or 864
lines Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Ar ...
() in France until 1812. : In 1799 the metre was defined to be exactly 443.296 or toise, with the intention that the metre should equal of the distance from the pole to the equator. This had the effect of making the toise approximately 1949.03631 mm. : According to an article written in 1866, during measurement of various standard length artefacts from several countries, the toise was measured as 1,949.03632 mm. :Since before 1394, the standard for the toise of Paris was an iron bar embedded in the wall of the
Grand Châtelet The Grand Châtelet was a stronghold in Ancien Régime Paris, on the right bank of the Seine, on the site of what is now the Place du Châtelet; it contained a court and police headquarters and a number of prisons. The original building on the s ...
. But a little before 1667 the pillar in which the standard was embedded bent and distorted the standard. In 1667 officials constructed a new standard, but there were complaints that the new standard was about 0.5% shorter than the previous one. Nevertheless, the new standard was mandated. The old standard was since called "toise de l'Écritoire". :From 1668 to 1776 the French standard of length was the Toise of Châtelet, which was fixed outside the Grand Châtelet in Paris. In 1735 two geodetic standards were calibrated against the Toise of Châtelet. One of them, the Toise of Peru, was used for the Spanish-French Geodesic Mission. In 1766 the Toise of Peru became the official standard of length in France and was renamed Toise of the
Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
(). In 1799, after the remeasurement of the
Paris meridian The Paris meridian is a meridian line running through the Paris Observatory in Paris, France – now longitude 2°20′14.02500″ East. It was a long-standing rival to the Greenwich meridian as the prime meridian of the world. The "Paris merid ...
arc () between
Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
by Delambre and Mechain, the metre was defined as 3 (feet) and 11.296 (lines) of the Toise of the Academy. * 1 toise was exactly 2 metres in France between 1812 and 1 January 1840 (
mesures usuelles Mesures usuelles (, ''customary measurements'') were a French system of measurement introduced by Napoleon I in 1812 to act as compromise between the metric system and traditional measurements. The system was restricted to use in the retail indust ...
). * 1 toise = 1.8 metres in
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. * 1 = 6 feet ( pt, pés) = 1.98 m in Portugal.


Unit of area

* 1 toise was about 3.799 square metres or, of course, a square French toise, as a measure for land and masonry area in France before 10 December 1799.


Unit of volume

* 1 toise = 8.0
cubic metre The cubic metre (in Commonwealth English and international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or cubic meter (in American English) is the unit of volume in the International System of Units (SI). Its symbol is ...
s (20th century
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, an ...
)


See also

*
Units of measurement in France before the French Revolution Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (a ...
*
Portuguese customary units Portuguese customary units were used in Portugal, Brazil and other parts of the Portuguese Empire until the adoption of the metric system in the 19th century. The various systems of weights and measures used in Portugal until the 19th century c ...
* Ottoman units of measurement *
Fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an International Standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally-accepted non-SI unit. ...
and
klafter The ''klafter'' is an historical unit of length, volume and area that was used in Central Europe. Unit of length As a unit of length, the ''klafter'' was derived from the span of a man's outstretched arms and was traditionally about 1.80 metr ...
, similar units


References

{{reflist


External links


Sizes.com toise page
United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Statistical Office of the United Nations Units of length Units of area Obsolete units of measurement Units of volume