Weights & Measures

Weights and measures are broadly accepted units of quantification, frequently subject to government regulation, which are used to ensure clarity, fairness and transparency in commercial transactions, and for a wide range of other common aspects of daily life. Many jurisdictions establish the technical standards for weights and measures through the enactment of “Weights & Measures Acts.”

The units now commonly used to measure mass, length, distance and volume have evolved over countless centuries of human history. The earliest methods of measurement were derived from the human body and the natural surroundings. For example, the ancient bánlámh¹ was defined as the distance between the elbow and the tip of the longest finger. Originating over 3000 years ago, the bánlámh was widely accepted throughout the ancient world, and standardized to such a degree as to allow for construction of enormous architectural wonders with dimensional precision that defies modern repetition.

Volume, or the capacity of a container, was determined using seeds or other small objects such as dried beans or peas. An example of this is the gráin, still in use today to measure precious gemstones, which was derived from the gráinnne eorna, meaning “barleycorn.” Mass or weight was often measured using stones of a certain size. The reckoning of time relied upon observations of the sun’s location in the sky.

Many units of weight and measurement that became popular throughout the West are believed to have originated with the most ancient civilizations of the East, passed on through trade and other contacts with the Kiltoi of classical Érevon. With the growth and expansion of the Mílesean Empire, they made their way across the western continent, eventually developing into the "Imperial System" that became the basis for our modern units of measurement. Perhaps the most important Érevish contribution to the modern system of weights and measures was the standardization of measurement throughout the Empire. Érevish law required all parts of the Empire to conform to standard units of measure as defined by the government in Lantara.

Despite longstanding efforts to standardize weights and measures throughout the world, there still exist a variety of measurement systems which differ in substantial ways. This is particularly true when comparing eastern and western systems. Nevertheless, substantial standardization was achieved in the West by the General Conference on Weighing and Measurement, which convened in 1889 and promulgated the first international protocol for the standardization of measurement in 1895.

Based upon the Imperial System, the International Standards for Weighing and Measuring are a codification the various regional and local versions of that system which devolved after the decline of the Empire’s central authority, into a single unified and well defined protocol. Traditional units of measure were retained, and their values standardized to achieve equity between buyers and sellers in the marketplace from the local to the international level.

The International Standards Protocol has now been joined by over 55 countries, predominantly in Heremonia. Pursuant to its terms, the General Conference on Weighing and Measurement continues to meet regularly every six years to further refine and improve measurement standards around the world. The protocol establishes technical specifications which can be adopted by member countries to standardize international transactions and create uniformity of quantification across the continent.

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¹ Meaning literally “white arm.”

Common Weights & Measures

WEIGHT

1 uns (u.) = 1/12 pund (pd.)
12 uns = 1 pund
100 pund = 1 céadweight (C.)
25 céadweight = 1 tonne (T.)
2500 pund = 1 tonne

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LENGTH / DISTANCE

1 orla (ol.) = 1/36 yard (yd.)
36 orlaí = 1 yard
9 yards = 1 slat (sl.)
30 slats = 1 stáid (sd.)
9 stáid = 1 western mile (wmi.)
2430 yards = 1 western mile
3 western miles = 1 léig (L.)

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AREA

7290 square yards (sq. yd.) = 1 acra (A.)
810 acra = 1 square western mile (wmi²)

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DRY VOLUME

1 taespún (ts.) = 1/4 ordspún (os.)
4 taespúns = 1 ordspún
12 ordspúns = 1 cupa (cu.)
4 cupa = 1 cárta (ct.)
4 cárta = 1 dry galún (dg.)
8 dry galúns = 1 buiséal (bu.)
8 buiséals = 1 oigiséad (O.)

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LIQUID VOLUME

6 séu (s.) = 1 cupa (cu.)
2 cupa = 1 pionta (pt.)
2 pionta = 1 cárta (ct.)
4 cárta = 1 galún (g.)
12 galúns = 1 ceaig (C.)
40 galúns = 1 bairille (B.)