A (meaning "rod" or "pole", abbreviation:
var) is an old
Spanish unit of
length. Varas are a
surveying unit that appear in many deeds in the southern
United States due to the land previously being part of Mexico, and becoming part of the United States under the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Varas were also used in many parts of
Latin America. It varied in size at various times and places; the Spanish unit was set at about in 1801. In Argentina, the vara measured about , and typical urban lots are wide (10 Argentine varas). At some time a value of was adopted in California. Standardisation of measurement in
Texas came with the introduction of , cordeles, and leagues. In
Texas, a was defined as , or 1 yard = 1.08 . The and the corresponding unit of
area, the square , were introduced in the 19th century to measure Spanish land grants.
Stephen F. Austin's early surveying contracts required that he use the as a standard unit. The can be seen in many deeds as late as the mid to late 1900s. is equivalent to 5,645.376 Texan square . A league is equivalent to 5,000 squared or . A measure of 100 by 100 (Spanish) is almost 7000 square meters, and is known traditionally throughout Spain and Latin America as a (i.e., a "city block"). As well, lumber is still measured in Costa Rica using a system based on 4 , or 11 feet, for both round and square wood. With square wood, using inches, the width is multiplied by the depth to get a measurement called , or inches. The lumber is charged 'per inch', which is a measurement of .
Palmo and coto (unit of length) The
palmo ("palm") measured the distance between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the little finger with all fingers splayed. Its standardized value is (9
pulgadas). Half of a
palmo in
Castile was called the
coto, described as six fingers and defined as . The
ancient Romans had a similar, smaller unit called the
palmus, which was .
Other Units of length • , a unit of length used for measuring depths (similar to the
fathom); 7 • (inch: 23 mm) used in Spain. •
Jeme, measure of length, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the index finger of an extended hand. •
(league), a unit of length. • , unit of length equal to == (unit of area)==