File talk:Vitruvian Man Measurements.png

Flemish ell
From the English WP article:

An ell (from Proto-Indo-European *el- "elbow, forearm), when used as an English unit of length, is usually 45 inches, i.e. 1.143 m (for the international inch). It was mainly used in the tailoring business but is now obsolete. It was derived from the length of the arm from the shoulder (or the elbow) to the wrist, although the exact length was never defined in English law.

But the diagram shows it from the armpit to the fingertips.

-Leonard G. (talk) 03:47, 29 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Where is the "french ell" of 54 inches? From what I can find the french ell (aune) was traditionally defined as $43 2/3$ french inches: about 46.537 english inches. --Random832 (contribs) 20:53, 8 July 2008 (UTC)