What we now know as the inch (from Latin uncia, or
"12th part") was defined as 1/12 foot by the Romans. It was roughly a thumb's breadth,
while a foot was roughly the length of a human foot. The Romans introduced the
inch to Britain, where it was incorporated into the English system of weights
and measures. The English made their own contribution to inch lore: In 1305,
King Edward I decreed that an inch should be the measure of three dried
barleycorns. (The Book of Answers, by Barbara Berliner)
What we now know as the inch (from Latin uncia, or
"12th part") was defined as 1/12 foot by the Romans. It was roughly a thumb's breadth,
while a foot was roughly the length of a human foot. The Romans introduced the
inch to Britain, where it was incorporated into the English system of weights
and measures. The English made their own contribution to inch lore: In 1305,
King Edward I decreed that an inch should be the measure of three dried
barleycorns. (The Book of Answers, by Barbara Berliner)