shaftment
shaftment noun: an obsolete unit of length defined as 6 inches, which equals 2 palms or ²⁄₃ span; today 6 inches equals exactly 15.24 cm. (Before the 12th century, a shaftment was defined as 6+¹⁄₂ inches.).
Noun
shaftment (plural shaftments)
- An obsolete unit of length defined as 6 inches, which equals 2 palms or ²⁄₃ span; today 6 inches equals exactly 15.24 cm. (Before the 12th century, a shaftment was defined as 6+¹⁄₂ inches.)
- Traditionally the width of the fist and outstretched thumb.
- A shaftment is the width of the palm and the outstretched thumb.
Forms of shaftment
| plural | shaftments |
|---|---|
| alternative form | shaftmond |
| alternative form | shaftman |
| alternative form | shaftmound |
| alternative form | shaftmont |
| alternative form | shaftmon |
| alternative form | shafman |
| alternative form | shafmet |
| alternative form | shafnet |
Origin of shaftment
From Middle English schaftmonde, from Old English sċeaftmund (“a palm, a palm's length”), equivalent to shaft + mound (“hand”).
Questions about shaftment
- What does shaftment mean?
- Shaftment means an obsolete unit of length defined as 6 inches, which equals 2 palms or ²⁄₃ span; today 6 inches equals exactly 15.24 cm. (Before the 12th century, a shaftment was defined as 6+¹⁄₂ inches.).
- What part of speech is shaftment?
- Shaftment is a noun.
- What is the plural of shaftment?
- The plural of shaftment is shaftments.
Words near shaftment in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: shaftment (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:
Cite this entry: “shaftment.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shaftment. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.