furlong

furlong
\ \ [OE] Furlong ‘eighth of a mile’, which has now virtually died out except in horse-racing terminology, is part of a vocabulary of lengthmeasuring bequeathed to us by the agricultural practices of our ancestors. It originated as an Old English compound formed from furh ‘furrow’ and lang ‘long’ – that is, the length of a furrow ploughed across a standard-sized square field of ten acres. Since the term acre varied somewhat in its application at different times and places, the length of a furlong could not be computed with great precision from it, but in practice from about the 9th century the furlong was pegged to the stadium, a measure equal to one eighth of a Roman mile.
\ \ Cf.⇒ FURROW, LONG

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Furlong — Fur long, n. [OE. furlong, furlang, AS. furlang, furlung, prop., the length of a furrow; furh furrow + lang long. See {Furrow}, and {Long}, a.] A measure of length; the eighth part of a mile; forty rods; two hundred and twenty yards. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • furlong — ● furlong nom masculin (anglais furlong) Unité anglo saxonne de longueur agraire, égale à 220 yards …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • furlong — O.E. furlang measure of distance (roughly 220 yards), originally the length of a furrow in the common field of 10 acres, from furh furrow + lang long. The acre of the common field being variously measured, the furlong was fixed 9c. on the… …   Etymology dictionary

  • furlong — [fʉr′lôŋ΄] n. [ME < OE furlang, a measure, lit., length of a furrow < furh, FURROW + lang, LONG1] a unit of length in the FPS system, equal to 220 yards or 1/ 8 statute mile (201.168 meters): one square furlong equals ten acres: abbrev. fur …   English World dictionary

  • Furlong — (spr. Förrióng), englisches Längenmaß = 1/8 englische Meile …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Furlong — (engl., spr. för , eigentlich a furrow long, »eine Furchenlänge«), engl. Feldmaß zu 10 Chains von 22 Yards = 201,164 m, in den Vereinigten Staaten = 201,168 m; bis 1825 in Schottland 240 Ells = 226,769 m und in Irland 280 Yards = 256,027 m …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Furlong — (spr. för ), engl. Längenmaß zu 220 Yards oder 660 Fuß = 201,16 m …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Furlong — (förrlong), 1/8 engl. Meile …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Furlong —   [ fəːlɔȖ; englisch, eigentlich »Länge einer Furche«] das, s/ s, Einheitenzeichen fur, in Großbritannien und in den USA verwendete Längeneinheit der Landwirtschaft: 1 fur = 220 yards = 201,168 m =1/8 mile.   …   Universal-Lexikon

  • furlong — ► NOUN ▪ an eighth of a mile, 220 yards. ORIGIN from the Old English words for «furrow» + «long» (originally denoting the length of a furrow in a common field) …   English terms dictionary

  • Furlong — unit of length m= 201.16800 accuracy=6 A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units. It is equal to one eighth of a mile or 660 feet or 201.168 metres.Five furlongs are approximately 1 kilometre (1.00584 km to be… …   Wikipedia

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