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banana

In Arabia, 20ᵗʰ century, a unit of length equal to a “finger's breadth.”

This term is defined in at least two reports from the British diplomatic corps (see below). However, we have been unable to find it in any other documents, and experts in the language whom we have consulted say they are not aware of it. Barring further evidence, we think the word does not exist.

Reader, if you know of any examples of the use of the term in a source in Arabic, we would very much appreciate your sharing them with us.

Consul Bullard to the Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, October 31, 1923.
Foreign Office Annual Reports from Arabia, 1930-1960. Vol. 1, 1930-1934.
Archive Editions, 1993.
Page 58.

Field Notes on Sa'udi Arabia, 1935.
[British] Air Ministry, August 1936.
Page 127.
British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/384.
[accessed 15 July 2020 in Qatar Digital Library https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000831.0x0001d5]