The last was a Dutch unit of

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

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). ...

, and

number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual number ...

, and a large English unit of

weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity. Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar qua ...

, mass, volume, and number. It referred to standardized amounts of

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

s' lading and varied by commodity and over time.

Name

The term derives from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

',''Oxford English Dictionary'', 3rd ed. "last, ''n.²''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2014. ultimately from a

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic br ...

root reconstructed as *''hlaþ''- or *''hlað-'' ("to place").''Oxford English Dictionary'', 1st ed. "lade, ''v.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1901. It is also parallel and probably influenced by the

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarc ...

and

Middle Low German Middle Low German or Middle Saxon (autonym: ''Sassisch'', i.e. " Saxon", Standard High German: ', Modern Dutch: ') is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented i ...

', used in identical senses as a load, cargo, or standardized unit.

Weight

The Assize of Weights and Measures, one of the statutes of uncertain date from , defined the as 12 sacks' worth, equivalent to 24 weys, 336 London stone, or 4,200

merchants' pound The pound or pound-mass is a Units of measurement, unit of mass used in imperial units, British imperial and United States customary units, United States customary systems of measurement. Various definitions have been used; the most common tod ...

s (about ).. & & The last subsequently varied with the different values given to the

sack of wool A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), an Ir ...

. The

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

and

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premie ...

lasts were 1,700 avoirdupois pounds (about ). The English Ordnance Board defined the as 24

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

s of 100 avoirdupois pounds each (2,400 lbs or about ). A Dutch last, or '' Scheepslast'', was Amsterdam ''

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from tha ...

'', which is . In the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

( nl, Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, commonly abbreviated to VOC) the last was about in the 17th century, later becoming as much as . The last was also used as a measure of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

Dutch Formosa The island of Taiwan, also commonly known as ''Formosa'', was partly under colonial rule by the Dutch Republic from 1624 to 1662 and from 1664 to 1668. In the context of the Age of Discovery, the Dutch East India Company established its presence ...

. It was composed of 20 piculs and about equal to .

Quantity

The Assize of Weights and Measures describes the as ten long thousands or 12,000 fish. The

Norman French Norman or Norman French (, french: Normand, Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a Romance language which can be classified as one of the Oïl languages along with French, Picard and Walloon. The name "Norman French" is sometimes used to descri ...

editions describe this as the "red herring" or and compose the herring last out of ten short thousands of twelve long hundreds, still making 12,000 fish altogether. (Elsewhere, the herring last was treated by

.) The comprised 20 dicker of 10 skins each (200 total) or, sometimes, 12

dozen A dozen (commonly abbreviated doz or dz) is a grouping of twelve. The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive integer groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the Moon, or months, in a cycle of the Sun, or year ...

skins (144 total).

Volume

The English last could also be understood as the volume occupied by the other lasts. In some sources, the last is equated with . The

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

last was 12

s, the cod last and some herring lasts were also 12 barrels, and the pitch last was 12 or 14 barrels. The Polish last (') used for bulk trade in dry goods from the 16th to 19th century comprised 30 Polish bushels ('). In the early 19th century, this amounted to but varied over time and location. The Dutch last, or '' Scheepslast'', has been equated to essentially of shipping space.

References

{{Reflist, 30em, refs = {{cite book, author1-link=Tonio Andrade , last = Andrade , first = Tonio , year = 2005 , title = How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Seventeenth Century , url = http://www.gutenberg-e.org/andrade/ , publisher = Columbia University Press , chapter = Appendix A: Weights, Measures, and Exchange Rates , chapter-url = http://www.gutenberg-e.org/andrade/appA.html {{Cite book , title = Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins. , last1 = Cardarelli , first1 = François Cardarelli , last2 = Sheilds , first2 = M.J. , publisher = Springer , year = 2003 , isbn = 978-1-4471-1122-1 , location = London , page = 23 Obsolete units of measurement

Name

Weight

Quantity

Volume

See also

References