boisseau

1

In France, 13th –19th century, the chief measure of dry capacity, varying greatly from place to place. By an act of 1670, the nationally-standardized measure of a boisseau was a cylinder 8 pouces 2.5 lignes high and 10 pouces in diameter (13.008 liters).

The Système Usuel, (1812 – 1839), assigned the boisseau the value 12.5 liters.

2

In Belgium, a unit of capacity, 15 liters (about 1.70 U.S. pecks).

3

In the French departments of Aisne, Bouches-du-Rhône, Marne, and Oise, the boisseau was also a unit of land area, varying from 100 to 500 square meters. See seed measures of land.