Word.ws English Dictionary

furlong

Syllables: fur·long/ˈfɜːlɒŋ/US/ˈfɝˌlɔŋ/

furlong noun: a unit of distance equal to one-eighth of a mile (220 yards, or 201.168 metres), now mainly used in measuring distances in farmland and horse racing.

furlong: a unit of distance equal to one-eighth of a mile (220 yards, or 201.168 metres), now mainly used in...
Image: RHaworth, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

furlong (plural furlongs or (archaic) furlong)

  1. A unit of distance equal to one-eighth of a mile (220 yards, or 201.168 metres), now mainly used in measuring distances in farmland and horse racing.
    • Novv vvould I giue a thouſand furlongs of Sea, for an Acre of barren ground: Long heath, Brovvne firrs, any thing; the vvills aboue be done, but I vvould faine dye a dry death.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
    • And the winepreſſe vvas troden vvithout the citie, and blood came out of the vvinepreſſe, euen vnto the horſe bridles, by the ſpace of a thouſand and ſixe hundred furlongs.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 14:20, column 1
  2. (dated) A unit of land area one furlong (sense 1) square (ten acres, or about four hectares).
  3. (UK, dated, dialectal) An undefined portion of an unenclosed field.
  4. (historical) Synonym of stadion (“a Greek unit of distance based on standardized footraces, equivalent to about 185.4 metres”).
    Synonyms:
    stade, stadium, stadion
  5. (dialectal, obsolete except UK) Synonym of headland (“unploughed boundary of a field”).
    Synonyms:
    headland
  6. (dialectal, obsolete except UK) Synonym of land (“the ground left unploughed between furrows”).
    Synonyms:
    land
  7. (dialectal, obsolete except UK) Synonym of land (“any of several portions into which a field is divided for ploughing”).
    Synonyms:
    land

Proper noun capitalized: Furlong

Furlong (countable and uncountable, plural Furlongs)

  1. A surname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Buckingham Township and Doylestown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States.

furlong meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

furlong in Hindi

unit of distance equal to one-eighth of a mile
फर्लांग pharlāṅg

furlong in Tamil

பேலோன்

furlong in Marathi

unit of distance equal to one-eighth of a mile
फरलाँग pharlŏṅga

furlong in Urdu

unit of distance equal to one-eighth of a mile
فرلانگ pharlāṅg
More languagesFewer languages
furlong in Malayalam
ഫർലോങ്, അരയ്ക്കാൽ മൈൽ
furlong in Arabic
فرلنغ
furlong in Persian
فرلانگ

Examples of furlong in a sentence

  • [T]he Otter ſmels a fiſh forty furlong off him in the water; […]1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter V, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing...
  • The fresh and desperate onset bore / The foes three furlongs back and more, / Leaving their noblest in their gore.1815, Walter Scott, “Canto Sixth”, in The Lord of the Isles, a Poem, Edinburgh: […] [F]or Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman...
  • She continued to go before the wind for a few furlongs, and then grounding upon the low icebergs, remained motionless.1829 January 1, “The Sketch Book. Danger of Sailing in High Latitudes.”, in The Cabinet of Instruction, Literature, and Amusement: […]...
  • His day's ride is a furlong space, / His city tops a glimmering haze.1847, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Monadnoc”, in Poems, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, page 110:

Synonyms of furlong

All synonyms of furlong

Forms of furlong

Noun
pluralfurlongs
alternative formforlong
plural (archaic)furlong
Proper noun
pluralFurlongs

Plural of furlong: furlongs

Origin of furlong

PIE word *dlongʰos From Middle English furlong, forlong (“unit of distance about one-eighth of a mile; quantity of land equal to one square furlong; racetrack for foot races; foot race”) [and other forms], from Old English furlang, furlung, from furh (“a furrow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *perḱ- (“to dig; to open; to rip up”) + lang (“long”, adjective) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos (“long”)), originally the typical length of a furrow in an average field.

Questions about furlong

What does furlong mean?
Furlong means a unit of distance equal to one-eighth of a mile (220 yards, or 201.168 metres), now mainly used in measuring distances in farmland and horse racing.
What is furlong in Hindi?
Furlong in Hindi is फर्लांग (pharlāṅg). See Furlong meaning in Hindi.
How do you use furlong in a sentence?
[T]he Otter ſmels a fiſh forty furlong off him in the water; […]
What part of speech is furlong?
Furlong can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce furlong?
Furlong is pronounced /ˈfɜːlɒŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of furlong?
The plural of furlong is furlongs.

Words near furlong in the dictionary

  1. furlined
  2. furling
  3. furling drum
  4. furling drums
  5. furlings
  6. furlong
  7. Furlonger
  8. furlongs
  9. furlough
  10. furloughed
  11. furlougher

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: furlong (page history and authors); Furlong (page history and authors); furlong (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); furlong (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-furlong.wav.

Cite this entry: “furlong.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/furlong. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.