shaftment
English
Alternative forms
- shaftmond, shaftman, shaftmound, shaftmont, shaftmon, shafman, shafmet, shafnet
Etymology
From Middle English schaftmonde, from Old English sċeaftmund (“a palm, a palm's length”), equivalent to shaft + mound (“hand”).
Noun
shaftment (plural shaftments)
- An obsolete unit of length defined as 6 inches, which equals 2 palms or 2⁄3 span; today 6 inches equals exactly 15.24 cm. (Before the 12th century, a shaftment was defined as 61⁄2 inches.)
- Traditionally the width of the fist and outstretched thumb.
- A shaftment is the width of the palm and the outstretched thumb.
References
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