Ligne
| SI units | |
|---|---|
| 2.256×10−3 m | 2.2558 mm |
| US customary units (Imperial units) | |
| 7.401×10−3 ft | 88.81×10−3 in |
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The ligne or line or Paris line,[1] is a historic unit of length used in France and elsewhere prior to the adoption of the metric system in the late 18th century, and used in various sciences after that time.[2][3] It is vestigially retained today by French and Swiss watchmakers to measure the size of watch movements,[4] in button making, and ribbon manufacture.
Use
Watchmaking
There are 12 lignes to one French inch (pouce). The standardized conversion for a ligne is 2.2558291 mm (1 mm = 0.443296 ligne), and it is abbreviated with the letter L or represented by the triple prime, ‴. One ligne is the equivalent of 0.0888 international inch.
This is comparable in size to the British measurement called "line" (one-twelfth of an English inch), used prior to 1824.[5]
Buttonmaking
In the 9th century German button makers began to use the term ligne to measure the diameter of buttons. The consensus definition was that a ligne was the measurement of a round wick, folded flat. In this sense it measures 1⁄40 of an inch, but not exactly, for there were several inches in the kingdoms and petty states of Germany at that time.
Such a measurement became the American measurement called "line," being one-fortieth of the US-customary inch, used measure buttons, probably introduced by German immigrants. It remains in US use today for buttons and snaps.[6]
Hatmaking
Ligne is used in measuring the width of ribbons in men's hat bands,[7] at 11.26 per inch.[8]
See also
References
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- ↑ Oxford English Dictionary
- ↑ http://www.naturalbuttons.com/Buttons%20Ligne.htm
- ↑ http://www.levinehat.com/blog/2011/08/what-are-french-lignes/
- ↑ http://www.levinehat.com/lignes-to-inches-converter
