An ell, when used as a unit of length, is usually 45 inches, i.e. 1.143 m (for the international inch). It is now obsolete and was mainly used in the tailoring business, and is derived from the length of the arm from the shoulder to the wrist. Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ... To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between one metre and ten metres. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ... A tailor is a person whose occupation is to sew clothes custom-fit to individuals, and to repair clothes. ...

In English this unit has mostly fallen out of use, as do others based on the human arm: digit (1/60 ell), finger (7/360 ell), palm (1/15 ell) hand (4/45 ell), shaftment (2/15 ell), span (1/5 ell) and cubit (2/5 ell). The exact length was never defined in English law. A digit (lat. ... Three archaic hand units of measurment: 1: Palm * 2: Span 3: Hand * In English, a Palm is commonly used to represent four fingers held together. ... A hand (or handbreadth) is a unit of length measurement, usually based on the breadth of a male human hand and thus around 1 dm, i. ... A shaftment, when used as a unit of length, is usually six inches or two palms, i. ... Span is the width of a human hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the small finger. ... Cubit is the name for any one of many units of measure used by various ancient peoples, based on the distance between the tip of the middle finger and the elbow on an average person or a similar forearm-based measurement. ...

Several different national forms exist, with different lengths, including the Scottish ell (approximately 37 inches), and the Flemish ell (approximately 27 inches).

Sometimes an ell is used as an alias for the cubit. Cubit is the name for any one of many units of measure used by various ancient peoples, based on the distance between the tip of the middle finger and the elbow on an average person or a similar forearm-based measurement. ...