fingerbreadth (fingger bredth)

The breadth of a finger; specifically, a long mea sure, the fourth part of a palm. The old English "fingerbreadth by a ize" was foot. The word is often used to translate names of foreign units derived from the natural fingerbreadth. 4 barlycornes in bredth make 1 fingerbreadth . 24 fingerbreadths = 1 foot. T. Hill, Arithmetic (1600). Tate , Modern Cambist (17th ed., Persia), p. 136. Natural fingerbreadth, the breadth of a person's finger, used as a unit of length.