Word.ws English Dictionary

klafter

US/ˈklɑf.tɚ/

klafter noun: a unit of length formerly widely used in Central Europe, derived from the span of a man's outstretched arms, typically defined as six local feet (equivalent to a fathom) or about 1.8 meters.

Noun

klafter (plural klafters)

  1. A unit of length formerly widely used in Central Europe, derived from the span of a man's outstretched arms, typically defined as six local feet (equivalent to a fathom) or about 1.8 meters.
    • ... for the purpose of working the machine, employed in raising water from the mines, and a tunnel of 300 klafters long, passing through a mountain, which serves as a road for foot-passengers, between Herrengrund and Altgebirg.1818, Richard Bright, Travels from Vienna Through Lower Hungary: With Some Remarks on the State of Vienna During the Congress, in the Year 1814
    • The building for the protection of the horses was erected on three sides of a square of 48 klafter, and was 12 klafter wide, making a structure 72 klafters long on each side, giving a covered space of 2,304 square klafter.1874, W. P. Blake, Report on the Vienna Exposition, in the United States Congressional Serial Set, page 133

Forms of klafter

pluralklafters

Origin of klafter

From German Klafter.

Questions about klafter

What does klafter mean?
Klafter means a unit of length formerly widely used in Central Europe, derived from the span of a man's outstretched arms, typically defined as six local feet (equivalent to a fathom) or about 1.8 meters.
What part of speech is klafter?
Klafter is a noun.
How do you pronounce klafter?
Klafter is pronounced /ˈklɑf.tɚ/ (US).
What is the plural of klafter?
The plural of klafter is klafters.

Words near klafter in the dictionary

  1. Kladds
  2. kladnoite
  3. klado-
  4. Kladruber
  5. Klaeser
  6. klafter
  7. klafters
  8. Klagenfurt
  9. Klahn
  10. Klahns
  11. Klahr

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: klafter (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.

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