Various measures of

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

quantity have been and are in use. Although there are no S.I. units such as quires or bales, there are

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

''ISO 4046-3:2002 Paper, board, pulps and related terms – Vocabulary – Part 3: Paper-making terminology'' (2002), quoted in ''ISO 22414:2004(E) Paper – Cut-size office paper – Measurement of edge quality'' (2004) Geneva:ISO. and

DIN DIN or Din or din may refer to: People and language * Din (name), people with the name * Dīn, an Arabic word with three general senses: judgment, custom, and religion from which the name originates * Dinka language (ISO 639 code: din), spoken ...

''Papier und Pappe: DIN 6730:2011-02: Begriffe'' (''Paper and board: vocabulary'') (2011) (in German). Berlin: Beuth Verlag. standards for the ream. Expressions used here include U.S. Customary Units.

Units

; Writing paper measurements : 25 sheets = 1 quire : 500 sheets = 20 quires = 1 ream : 1,000 sheets = 40 quires = 2 reams = 1 bundle : 5,000 sheets = 200 quires = 10 reams = 5 bundles = 1 bale : 200,000 sheets = 8,000 quires = 400 reams = 200 bundles = 40 bales = 1 pallet ; 'Short' paper measurements : 24 sheets = 1 'short' quire : 480 sheets = 20 'short' quires = 1 'short' ream : 960 sheets = 40 'short' quires = 2 'short' reams = 1 'short' bundle : 4,800 sheets = 200 'short' quires = 10 'short' reams = 5 'short' bundles = 1 'short' bale ; Posters and printing measurements : 516 sheets (= 21 'short' quires) = 1 printer's ream : 1,032 sheets = 2 printer's reams = 1 printer's bundle : 5,160 sheets = 5 printer's bundles = 1 printer's bale ; Cover and index paper : 250 sheets = 1 ream

Quire

A quire of paper is a measure of paper quantity. The usual meaning is 25 sheets of the same size and quality: of a ream of 500 sheets. Quires of 25 sheets are often used for machine-made paper, while quires of 24 sheets are often used for handmade or specialised paper of 480-sheet reams. (As an old UK and US measure, in some sources, a quire was originally 24 sheets.) Quires of 15, 18 or 20 sheets have also been used, depending on the type of paper.

Etymology

The current word ''quire'' derives from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

or , from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th French ), from Latin">French language">French ), from Latin , 'by fours', 'fourfold'. Later, when bookmaking switched to using paper and it became possible to easily stitch 5 to 7 sheets at a time, the association of with ''four'' was quickly lost.

History

In the Middle Ages, a quire (also called a " gathering") was most often formed of four folded sheets of Gathering (bookbinding)">gathering") was most often formed of four folded sheets of vellum">Gathering (bookbinding)">gathering") was most often formed of four folded sheets of vellum or parchment, i.e. eight leaves or folio">vellum or parchment">vellum">Gathering (bookbinding)">gathering") was most often formed of four folded sheets of vellum or parchment, i.e. eight leaves or folios, 16 sides. The term ''quaternion'' (or sometimes ) designates such a quire. A quire made of a single folded sheet (i.e. two leaves, four sides) is a bifolium (plural ''bifolia''); a binion is a quire of two sheets (i.e. four leaves, 8 sides); and a quinion is five sheets (ten leaves, 20 sides). This last meaning is preserved in the modern Italian term for quire, . Formerly, when paper was packed at the paper mill, the top and bottom quires were made up of slightly damaged sheets ("outsides") to protect the good quires ("insides"). These outside quires were known as cassie quires (from French , 'broken'), or "cording quires" and had only 20 sheets to the quire. The printer Philip Luckombe in a book published in 1770 mentions both 24- and 25-sheet quires; he also details printer's wastage, and the sorting and recycling of damaged ''cassie'' quires. An 1826 French manual on typography complained that cording quires (usually containing some salvageable paper) from the Netherlands barely contained a single good sheet.A note on the flyleaf of this copy states that this edition was pirated from Didot's 1st ed. of 1825; see pp. 235–236, especially in respect of the examples of proof-reader's corrections on pp. 162–163 It also became the name for any booklet small enough to be made from a single quire of paper.

Simon Winchester Simon Winchester (born 28 September 1944) is a British-American author and journalist. In his career at ''The Guardian'' newspaper, Winchester covered numerous significant events, including Bloody Sunday (1972), Bloody Sunday and the Watergate S ...

, in '' The Surgeon of Crowthorne'', cites a specific number, defining quire as "a booklet eight pages thick." Several European words for quire keep the meaning of "book of paper":

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, Danish , Dutch . In blankbook binding, ''quire'' is a term indicating 80 pages.

Ream

A ream of paper is a quantity of sheets of the same

size Size in general is the Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude or dimensions of a thing. More specifically, ''geometrical size'' (or ''spatial size'') can refer to three geometrical measures: length, area, or volume. Length can be generalized ...

and quality.

International standards An international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization is the International O ...

organizations define the ream as 500 identical sheets.ISO 4046 (see References) defines the ream as "a pack of 500 identical sheets of paper" and appends a note: "In many countries it is common practice to use the term "ream" for other quantities, for example 480 sheets, thus affecting the quire. For quantities other than 500 sheets, a different term, such as "pack", should be used." This ream of 500 sheets (20 quires of 25 sheets) is also known as a 'long' ream, and is gradually replacing the old value of 480 sheets, now known as a 'short' ream. Reams of 472 and 516 sheets are still current, but in

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

outlets paper is typically sold in reams of 500. As an old UK and US unit, a perfect ream was equal to 516 sheets. Certain types of specialist papers such as tissue paper, greaseproof paper, handmade paper, and blotting paper are still sold (especially in the UK) in 'short' reams of 480 sheets (20 quires of 24 sheets). However, the commercial use of the word 'ream' for quantities of paper other than 500 is now deprecated by such standards as ISO 4046. In Europe, the

6730 standard for Paper and Board includes a definition of 1 ream of A4 80

gsm The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

(80 g/m²) paper equals 500 sheets.

Etymology

The word 'ream' derives from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, from Arabic 'bundle' (of paper), from , 'collect into a bundle', reflecting the Moors having brought the manufacture of cotton paper to Spain. The early variant ''rym'' (late 15c.) suggests a Dutch influence. (cf. Dutch ), probably during the time of Spanish Habsburg control of the Netherlands.

History

The number of sheets in a ream has varied locally over the centuries, often according to the size and type of paper being sold. Reams of 500 sheets (20 quires of 25 sheets) were known in England in c. 1594; in 1706 a ream was defined as 20 quires, either 24 or 25 sheets to the quire. In 18th- and 19th-century Europe, the size of the ream varied widely. In

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

a ream of music paper was 450 or 480 sheets; in Britain, Holland and Germany a ream of 480 sheets was common; in the

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

it was more frequently 500. Some paper manufacturers counted 546 sheets (21 quires of 26 sheets). J. S. Bach's manuscript paper at

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

was ordered by the ream of 480 sheets. In 1840, a ream in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

was 17 (25-sheet) quires and three sheets = 428 sheets, and a double ream was 18 (24-sheet) quires and two sheets = 434 sheets; and in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, blotting or packing paper was sold in reams of 300 (20 quires of 15 sheets). A mid-19th century

Milanese Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography , ) is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to t ...

-Italian dictionary has an example for a (ream) as being either 450 or 480 sheets. In the UK, prior to 1922, the following definitions of ‘ream’ were in use: * 472 sheets: a ream size for hand‑made paper only, called ‘mill ream’ (containing 18 short quires of 24 sheets of ‘insides’ (paper without manufacturing defects),Pages 29 and 30
''Paper and Its Uses'' (1919 edition) and two cording quires of 20 sheets of ‘outsides’ (paper with serious manufacturing defects)) * 480 sheets (then the standard ream size): a ream of paper was 480 sheets unless otherwise specified (a 480‑sheet ream consists of 20 quires of 24 sheets (a 24‑sheet quire is now called ‘short quires’); such a ream was also called ‘stationer’s ream’Page 34
''Paper and Its Uses'' (1919 edition) and it is now called ‘short ream’); for hand‑made paper, an ‘insides ream’ (containing either ‘inside’ paper or retree paper (paper with minor manufacturing defects)), as opposed to mill ream, is 480 sheets * 500 sheets: the definition of ‘ream’ for newspaper paper (20 quires of 25 sheets; now also called ‘long ream’) * 504 sheets: the definition of ‘ream’ for envelope paper (21 short quires) * 516 sheets: the definition of ‘ream’ for printing paper (21 short quires; also called ‘perfect ream’ or ‘printer’s ream’) The UK paper industry began to use the following revised definitions of ‘ream’ on 1 January 1922:Page lxi
''Phillips’ Paper Trade Directory of the World'' (1923 edition) * 500 sheets: for all machine‑made writing paper and printing paper (paper other than wrapping paper or similar paper) * 480 sheets: for wrapping paper or similar paper, as well as insides reams of hand‑made paper * 472 sheets: for mill reams of hand‑made paper Since the late 20th century, the 500-sheet ream has become the de facto international standard.

Bundle

A paper bundle is a quantity of sheets of paper, currently standardized as 1,000 sheets. A bundle consists of two reams or 40 quires. As an old UK and US measure, it was previously equal to 960 sheets. When referring to chipboard, there are two standards in the US. In general, a package of approximately 50 pounds of chipboard is called a bundle. Thus, a bundle of 22 point chipboard (0.022" thick) 24" × 38", with each sheet weighing 0.556 pounds, contains 90 sheets. However, chipboard sold in size 11" × 17" and smaller is packaged and sold as bundles of 25 pounds.

Bale

A paper bale is a quantity of sheets of paper, currently standardized as 5,000 sheets. A bale consists of five bundles, ten reams or 200 quires. As an old UK and US measure, it was previously equal to 4800 sheets.

Explanatory notes

References

External links

ream (rm)
a

a
The Online Quantinary
(yet see als

at the same site for historical evidence of 500-sheet reams as early as 1590.)

on Paper Dictionary {{DEFAULTSORT:Units Of Paper Quantity Paper Units of amount fr:Rame

Units

Quire

Etymology

History

Ream

Etymology

History

Bundle

Bale

See also

Explanatory notes

References

External links