Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Swedish units of measurement

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In Sweden, a common system for weights and measures was introduced by law in 1665. Before that, there were a number of local variants. The system was slightly revised in 1735. In 1855, a decimal reform was instituted that defined a new Swedish inch as 1/10 foot. Up to the middle of the 19th century there was a law allowing for the imposition of the death penalty for falsifying weights or measures. Sweden adopted the metric system in 1889. Only the mil has been preserved, now measuring 10km, however.

Contents

Length

  • aln – Forearm (cf. Ell) (pl. alnar). After 1863, 59.37 cm. Before that, from 1605, 59.38 cm as defined by king Carl IX of Sweden in Norrköping 1604 based on Rydaholmsalnen.
  • famn – Fathom, 3 alnar.
  • kvarter – Quarter, 1/4 aln
  • fot – Foot, 1/2 aln. Before 1863, the Stockholm fot was the commonly accepted unit, at 29.69 cm.
  • linje – Line, after 1863 1/10 tum, 2.96 mm. Before that, 1/12 tum or 2.06 mm.
  • mil – Mile, also lantmil. From 1699, defined as a unity mile of 18000 alnar or 10.69 km. The unified mile was meant to define the suitable distance between inns. (The current Swedish mil is exactly 10 kilometers,)
  • nymil – New mile from 1889, 10 km exactly. Commonly used to this day, only referred to as mil.
  • kyndemil – The distance a torch will last, approx 16 km
  • skogsmil – Also rast, distance between rests in the woods, approx 5 km.
  • fjärdingsväg – 1/4 mil
  • stenkast – Stone's throw, approx 50 m, used to this day as an approximate measure.
  • rev – 160 fot, for land measurement, was 100 fot after 1855.
  • stång – 16 fot, for land measurement
  • tum – Thumb (inch), 1/12 fot, 2.474 cm. After 1863 1/10 fot, 2.96 cm, not much accepted by professional users in mechanics and carpentry who later switched to English inch (2.54 cm, abandoned only late 20th century) and metric system.
  • tvärhand – Hand, 4 inches.

    • Area

  • kannaland – 1000 fot², or 88.15 m²
  • kappland – 154.3 m².
  • spannland – 16 kappland
  • tunnland – 2 spannland or 4937.6 m², about 1 acre
  • kvadratmil – Square mil, 36 million square favnar, from 1739.

    • Weight

  • mark – 1/2 skålpund. Was used from the Viking era, when it was approx 203 g.

    • Monetary

  • daler – From 1534, Swedish thaler. From 1873, replaced by the krona.
  • riksdaler – From 1624, 1 1/2 daler, from 1681 2 daler, from 1715 3 daler, from 1776 6 daler
  • skilling – From 1776, 1/48 riksdaler
  • mark – From 1534, 1/3 daler. From 1604, 1/4 daler.
  • öre – From 1534, 1/8 mark. Subsequently replaced by the skilling, but from 1855 reintroduced as 1/100 riksdaler.

    • References

    Swedish units of measurement Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA