In England, a unit of length, originally a body unit (though influenced by the Roman palm), the breadth of the palm of the hand at the base of the fingers, without the thumb, which was taken to be 4 fingerbreadths, 3 thumbwidths, or 3 inches. By the 17th century it is always simply = 3 inches.
In Norway, a unit of length used to describe the diameter of logs, = 3⁷⁄₁₈ tomme,about 8.9 centimeters. Also spelled palme.
An ancient Roman unit of length. one-fourth of a pes.
In the Netherlands, a unit of length = 10 centimeters (about 3.94 inches).
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Last revised: 30 October 2006.