cubit

See also: Cubit and cúbit

English

Etymology

From Middle English cubite, from Latin cubitum (“elbow, cubit”). Doublet of cubitus.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkjuː.bɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (US) enPR: kyo͞o'bĭt, IPA^(key): /ˈkju.bɪt/
• Rhymes: -uːbɪt
• Homophone: qubit

Noun

cubit (plural cubits)

1. The distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger used as an informal unit of length.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 6:27:

     Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

2. (historical) Any of various units of length approximating this distance, usually around 35–60 cm.
3. (anatomy, archaic) Synonym of ulna, the bone of the human forearm.

Usage notes

In English, most commonly encountered in biblical Hebrew measures based on the shorter of the two Egyptian cubits, although the term is also used broadly for other units between the length of a foot and a yard. These may be clarified with a preceding adjective: Greek cubit, Roman cubit, etc.

Synonyms

• (unit of length): ell (now properly a separate unit)

Hyponyms

• arshin, Russian cubit
• codo, Spanish cubit
• covado, Portuguese cubit
• dira (modern Middle Eastern contexts)
• royal cubit (ancient Egypt)

Related terms

• cubitus
• qubit

Translations

Any of various units of length approximating the forearm and hand

• Arabic: ذِرَاع m (ḏirāʕ)
• Armenian: կանգուն (hy) (kangun)
• Bulgarian: аршин (bg) m (aršin), лакът (bg) m (lakǎt)
• Burmese: တောင် (my) (taung)
• Catalan: colze (ca) m, colzo (ca) m
• Czech: loket (cs) m
• Danish: alen c
• Dutch: el (nl) c
• Egyptian: (mḥ m)
• Esperanto: ulno
• Estonian: küünar
• Finnish: kyynärä (fi)
• French: coudée (fr) f
• Galician: cóbado (gl) m
• German: Elle (de) f
• Greek: πήχης (el) m (píchis)

  Ancient: πῆχυς m (pêkhus)

• Hebrew: אַמָּה (he) f ('amá)
• Hungarian: sing (hu)
• Indonesian: dzira'
• Latin: cubitum n, cubitus m
• Macedonian: лакт m (lakt), ла́кот m (lákot), а́ршин m (áršin)
• Malay: hasta (ms)
• Maori: whatīanga
• Ottoman Turkish: آرش (arş)
• Persian: ارش (fa) (arš)
• Portuguese: côvado (pt) m
• Russian: ло́коть (ru) m (lókotʹ)
• Spanish: codo (es) m
• Swahili: dhiraa, mkono (sw)
• Swedish: aln (sv) c
• Tagalog: siko
• Telugu: మూర (te) (mūra)
• Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎎𐎚 (ảmt)
• Yiddish: אייל f (eyl)

Malay

Alternative forms

• چوبيت

Etymology

From Proto-Malayic *-bit, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *-bit, from Proto-Austronesian *-bit.

Pronunciation

• (Johor-Selangor) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃubet/
• (Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃubɪt/
• Rhymes: -ubet, -bet, -et

Verb

cubit (Jawi spelling چوبيت, used in the form mencubit)

1. to pinch (to squeeze a small amount of skin)

Descendants

• → Macanese: chubí

Middle English

Noun

cubit

1. Alternative form of cubite