Yard

This article is about the unit of measure known as the yard. For other definitions, see Yard (disambiguation).

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A yard (abbr. yd) is an imperial unit of length, defined as 3 feet or 36 inches, which is exactly 0.9144 metres in the modern, international definition. The corresponding area measure is the square yard.

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The early yard was divided by the binary method into 2, 4, 8, and 16 parts called the half-yard, span, finger, and nail.

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The yard derives its name from the word for a straight branch or rod, although the precise origin of the measure is not definitely known. Some believe it derived from the double cubit, or that it originated from cubic measure. One postulate was that the yard was derived from the girth of a person's waist, while another claim held that the measure was invented by Henry I of England as being the distance between the tip of his nose and the end of his thumb. These are believed to be more likely standardising events than inventing of the measure.

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Several standardisations of the yard have been produced over the years, resulting in yardsticks of various lengths. The modern yard is a compromise between the old British and American standards, and is calibrated against the metre.

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In American slang a "yard" is finance slang for a billion. Its clearer to say "I want to buy a yard of yen" than to say "I want to buy a billion yen" which could be misheard as "I want to buy a million yen". In 1926 a yard or a century was slang for $100, then by 1932 it had progressed to be slang for $1,000.

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Imperial unit: This article is about post-1824 Imperial units, please see also English unit, U.S. customary unit or Avoirdupois....

Length: In general English usage, length (symbols: l, L) is but one particular instance of distance – an object's length is how long the object is – but in the physical sciences and engineering, the word length is in some contexts used synonymously with "distance". Height is vertical distance; ...

Feet: REDIRECT Foot (disambiguation)...

Yard related Images and Photos (experimental)

Yard Sale	Court Yard Hounds CD	Court Yard Hounds CD	Grave Yard Tallinn Estonia
The Longest Yard	The Longest Yard	Charlie Parker - Yard Bird	Hollywood Party Yard Sign
Dog In Yard Drive Slow Sign	Inn Yard at Calais 1790	Stomp the Yard Blu-ray	Paul's Back Yard II