Yard

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Template:Otheruses1 A yard (abbr. yd.) is an English unit of length, defined as 3 feet, 36 inches, or 1/1760 of a mile, which is exactly 0.9144 metres in the modern, international definition. The corresponding area measure is the square yard.

The early yard was divided by the binary method into 2, 4, 8, and 16 parts called the half-yard, span, finger, and nail.

The yard derives its name from the word for a straight branch or rod, although the precise origin of the measure is not definitely known. Some believe it derived from the double cubit, or that it originated from cubic measure, others from its near equivalents, like the length of a stride or pace. One postulate was that the yard was derived from the girth of a person's waist, while another claim held that the measure was invented by Henry I of England as being the distance between the tip of his nose and the end of his thumb. These are believed to be more likely standardising events than inventing of the measure.

Several standardisations of the yard have been produced over the years, resulting in yardsticks of various lengths. The modern yard is a compromise between the old British and American standards, and is calibrated against the metre.af:Jaard ar:يارد bg:Ярд da:Yard de:Yard es:Yarda eo:Jardo fr:Yard it:Iarda nl:Yard ja:ヤード no:Yard pl:Jard (jednostka) pt:Jarda ru:Ярд simple:Yard sv:Yard uk:Ярд zh:码