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inch

Latin ūncia meant 'a twelfth' — a twelfth of a foot or of a pound — so inch and ounce are the same word, one borrowed by Old English and the other through French. The English inch then travelled with screens, pipes and tyres to Asia and Africa.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Middle English to Scots

From English to Japanese

From English to Korean

From English to Hindi

From English to Swahili

From English to Malay

200 BCELatin

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

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