A faggot, in the meaning of "bundle", is an archaic

English unit English units were 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 ...

applied to bundles of certain items. Alternate spellings in

Early Modern English Early Modern English (sometimes abbreviated EModEFor example, or EMnE) or Early New English (ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transit ...

include ''fagate, faget, fagett, faggott, fagot, fagatt, fagott, ffagott,'' and ''faggat''. A similar term is found in other languages (e.g.

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''fascis'').

Background

Sometimes called a short faggot, a faggot of sticks equals a bundle of wood sticks or

billet In European militaries, a billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. In American usage, it refers to a specific personnel position, assignment, or duty station to which a soldier can be assigned. Historically, a billet w ...

s that is in

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with Dimension (physical quantity), dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a Base unit (measurement), base unit for length is chosen, ...

and in

circumference In geometry, the circumference () is the perimeter of a circle or ellipse. The circumference is the arc length of the circle, as if it were opened up and straightened out to a line segment. More generally, the perimeter is the curve length arou ...

. The measurement was standardised in ordinances by 1474. A small short faggot was also called a nicket. A brush-faggot (sometimes shortened to brush) was a bundle of similar size made of

brushwood Brushwood can mean: * Brian Brushwood, American magician, podcaster, author and comedian known for ''Scam School'' * Brushwood, New South Wales, a rural community in the central east part of the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia * Br ...

. A long faggot of sticks equals a bundle larger than long. In a book on slang used at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

fire-dogs were

fire basket A fire basket is an iron basket in which wood can be burned to make a bonfire. Fire baskets have been used since antiquity mainly to illuminate and heat rooms. Today, they are most often used in an outdoor garden area as an Patio heater, outdoor ...

(

andiron An andiron, firedog, fire-dog, fire dog or iron-dog is a bracket support, normally one of a pair, on which logs are laid for burning in an open fireplace, so that air may circulate under the firewood, allowing better burning and less smoke. T ...

s) that could hold long faggots, and half-faggots were smaller andirons that could only hold short faggots and were later converted for use with

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

. A long faggot was also called a kidd faggot,Yaxley, David (2003). ''A Researcher's Glossary of Words Found in Historical Documents of East Anglia.'' Larks Press, ''kid'', ''kide'', or ''kidde'' being Middle English for firewood in bundles. A

fascine A fascine (pronounced ) is a rough bundle of wikt:brushwood, brushwood or other material used for strengthening an earthen structure, or making a path across uneven or wet terrain. Typical uses are protecting the banks of streams from erosion (a ...

(or bavin) is a type of long faggot which is approximately long and in

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...

and used to maintain earthworks such as

trench A trench is a type of digging, excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale (landform), swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or trapping ...

es. A faggot was also a unit of

weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is a quantity associated with the gravitational force exerted on the object by other objects in its environment, although there is some variation and debate as to the exact definition. Some sta ...

used to measure

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

rods or bars totaling .

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Faggot (Unit) Obsolete units of measurement

Background

See also

References

External links