A Medievalized Metric System

This is a “medievalized” version of the metric system that I first created for my game world of Etan.

Length:

The basic unit of length is the “measure” (abbreviated m). It is colloquially defined as “yay long” (hold hands apart as for “the big one that got away”) or as the stride of a tall man. Officially it is defined by the length of the “Iron Rule” kept in Sal-Hy.

One thousand (1000) measures equals one “king’s measure” (km)

One one-hundredth (1/100) of a measure equals one “child’s measure” (cm)

One one-thousandth (1/1000) of a measure (or one-tenth (1/10) of a child’s measure) equals one “mite’s measure” (mm) - but this unit is rarely used.

Volume:

The basic unit of volume is called the “liquid measure” (l). It is defined as the volume of a copper cup kept in Robono, or as the volume of a cube measuring one-tenth of a measure on each side.

One one-thousandth (1/1000) of a liquid measure equals one “mite’s liquid measure” (ml) or one “child’s cup” (cc)

One thousand (1000) liquid measures equals one “tun” of liquid.

Weight:

The basic unit of weight (mass) is the “king’s gold measure” or “king’s grain measure” (kg)

One thousand king’s gold measures equals one ton (or tonne)

One one-thousandth (1/1000) of a king’s gold measure equals a “goldsmith’s measure” or “gem-measure” (gm or g)

One one-millionth (1/1,000,000) of a king’s gold measure or one one-thousandth (1/1000) of a goldsmith’s measure equals one “mite’s gold measure” or “miser’s gold measure” (mg). This is colloquially defined as the smallest unit of value worth worrying about.