handbreadth

Four fingers across

A handbreadth is a unit of measurement equal to the width of a hand, typically about three to four inches.

The term appears most often in biblical translations and historical texts describing ancient measurements: The table was a handbreadth thick.

Outside such contexts, the word is rare, replaced by more precise modern units.

measurement

palm

Hand's flat interior

spanDistance between endpoints
cubitArm-based length unit
inchTwelfth of a foot

foot · digit · width · thickness · caliber · ell · fathom · gauge · dimension · proportion

ancient

cubit

Arm-based length unit

spanDistance between endpoints
palmHand's flat interior
fathomNautical depth unit

Biblical · Hebrew · Temple · Solomon · Pharaoh · Mishnah · sacred · Mesopotamia · Ancient Egypt · Israelite

approximation

estimate

Informed guess at quantity

roughUneven in surface
ballparkSports venue or estimate
eyeballOrgan of sight

gauge · judge · reckon · assess · evaluate · inexact · imprecise · rule-of-thumb · guesstimate · approximate

smallness

narrow

Of small width

slimThin or meager
slightMinor or thin
compactTightly packed together

little · short · modest · minimal · scant · meager · tight · close · bare · limited

Categories

body measurescubit, span, fathom, foot, digit
Old Unitscubit, fathom, furlong, league, pace
Biblical Measurescubit, shekel, homer, talent, bath
hand measurementsspan, palm, cubit, digit, finger width

Opposites

measurement scale

handbreadthlight-year

Astronomical distance measure

mile · league · parsec · astronomical unit · vastness

measurement precision

handbreadthmillimeter

Thousandth of a meter

meter · micrometer · nanometer · centimeter · SI unit

Family

hand, breadth, broad, hands, handful, handshake, breadths, breadthwise, handspan

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G