The line (abbreviated L or l or ‴ or lin.) was a small
English unit of
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 Inte ...
, variously reckoned as , , , or of an
inch
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 ...
. It was not included among the units authorized as the British
Imperial system in 1824.
Size
The line was not recognized by any statute of the
English Parliament but was usually understood as of a
barleycorn, which itself was recognized by statute as of an
inch
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 ...
.
The line was eventually
decimalized as of an inch, without recourse to barleycorns.
The US
button trade uses the same or
a similar term but defined as one-fortieth of the
US-customary inch (making a button-maker's line equal to 0.635 mm).
In use
Botanists formerly used the units (usually as inch) to measure the size of
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae excl ...
parts. Linnaeus's ''Philosophia botanica'' (1751) includes the Linea in its summary of units of measurements, defining it as "Linea una Mensurae parisinae"; Stearns gives its length as 2.25 mm. Even after
metrication, British botanists continued to employ tools with gradations marked as ''linea'' (lines); the British line is approx. 2.1 mm and the
Paris line approx. 2.3 mm.
Entomologists, both in the UK and in other European countries, in the 1800s were using lines as a unit of measurement for insects, at least for the relatively large mantids and phasmids - examples include Westwood, in the UK, and de Haan in the Netherlands.
Gunsmith
A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very ...
s and
armament companies also employed the -inch line (the "decimal line"), in part owing to the importance of the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
and
Russian arms industries. These are now given in terms of
millimeters, but the seemingly arbitrary
7.62 mm caliber was originally understood as a 3-line caliber (as with the 1891
Mosin–Nagant
The Mosin–Nagant is a five-shot, bolt-action, internal magazine–fed military rifle. Known officially as the 3-line rifle M1891 and informally in Russia and former Soviet Union as Mosin's rifle ( ru , винтовка Мосина, ISO 9: ) ...
rifle). The 12.7 mm caliber used by the
M2 Browning machine gun
The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, ...
was similarly a 5-line caliber.
Foreign units
Other similar small units called lines include:
* The
Russian ' (ли́ния), of the ''diuym'' which had been set precisely equal to an English
inch
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 ...
by
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
* The
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
' or "Paris line", of the French inch (''french: pouce''), 2.256 mm and about 1.06 L.
* The
Portuguese ', of the Portuguese inch or 12 "points" (') or 2.29
mm
* The
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
' was usually of the German inch but sometimes also German inch
* The Vienna line, of a Vienna inch.
[
Karl Wilhelm Naegeli; Simon Schwendener]
"The Microscope in Theory and Practice"
p. 294.
See also
*
English units
English units are the units of measurement used in England up to 1826 (when they were replaced by Imperial units), which evolved as a combination of the Anglo-Saxon and Roman systems of units. Various standards have applied to English units at ...
used prior to 1824
*
Imperial units
The imperial system of units, imperial system or imperial units (also known as British Imperial or Exchequer Standards of 1826) is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 and continued to be developed th ...
defined by the British
Weights and Measures Act
A weights and measures act is a kind of legislative act found in many jurisdictions establishing technical standards for weights and measures.
Notable acts of this type include:
* Various Weights and Measures Acts (UK) or the various legislative ...
of 1824
*
List of unusual units of measurement
An unusual unit of measurement is a unit of measurement that does not form part of a coherent system of measurement, especially because its exact quantity may not be well known or because it may be an inconvenient multiple or fraction of a bas ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:LINE
Units of length
Obsolete units of measurement