What Is Palm?
A palm is an old way to measure length using the width of a human hand. It is not a modern standard unit, but it helps us understand old buildings, maps, and texts. A palm is usually taken as about three inches, which is around eight centimeters, but the exact size changed from place to place in history.
Definition
A palm is a body based unit of length. It was meant to match the width of the flat part of a human hand, not counting the thumb. In many old systems, a palm was the distance across four fingers held together. In modern terms, a palm is often described as about:
- 3 inches
- 7.5 to 8 centimeters
- 0.08 meter (approximate)
Because it came from the human body, the palm was never exactly the same everywhere. Different cultures and times used slightly different lengths for the palm.
History / Origin
The palm is a very ancient unit. People long ago did not have metal rulers or tape measures, so they used parts of the body instead, like the hand, foot, and arm. The palm appeared in many early measuring systems.
In ancient Egypt, a cubit, which was the length of a forearm, was divided into smaller parts, and one of those parts was the palm. The palm also existed in Mesopotamian and biblical measurement systems. Later, the Greeks and Romans used their own versions of the palm based on the human hand and foot.
In medieval Europe, people kept using the palm along with units like the span, hand, and foot. Over time, countries slowly moved to more fixed units, then later to the metric system. When that happened, the palm became rare in official use.
Symbol & Abbreviation
The palm does not have one official modern symbol like cm for centimeter or m for meter. It was mostly written out as a full word in each language.
In some old texts you might see:
- palm written in full
- short forms like plm or just a local word without a special symbol
Because there is no single standard abbreviation, writers today should clearly write the word palm and explain what size they mean.
Current Use Around the World
The palm is not a standard unit in modern science, trade, or law. Most countries use the metric system, and some also use inches and feet for daily life. These systems do not include the palm as an official unit.
Today the palm mainly appears in:
- Historical studies, for understanding old plans, laws, and holy texts
- Archaeology, for describing sizes found in ancient sites compared with old units
- Religious or traditional writings that use old Hebrew, Greek, or Roman measures
- Educational material that explains how units based on the human body worked
In everyday life, people might casually say palm to mean the width of their hand, but this is just rough speech, not a strict measurement.
Example Conversions
Because the palm changed from place to place, there is no single exact conversion. For simple use, many people treat one palm as about three inches or about eight centimeters.
Approximate conversions using 1 palm ≈ 3 inches:
- 1 palm ≈ 3 in
- 1 palm ≈ 7.6 cm
- 1 palm ≈ 0.076 m
From palms to inches and centimeters:
- 2 palms ≈ 6 in ≈ 15.2 cm
- 3 palms ≈ 9 in ≈ 22.9 cm
- 4 palms ≈ 12 in ≈ 30.5 cm
From inches to palms:
- 3 in ≈ 1 palm
- 6 in ≈ 2 palms
- 9 in ≈ 3 palms
- 12 in ≈ 4 palms
When doing serious work, such as research on a specific culture, you should check what value that culture gave to the palm and use that value instead of these simple ones.
Related Units
The palm belongs to a family of body based units. These units all come from parts of the human body.
- Digit or finger, a smaller unit, often the width of one finger
- Palm, the width of four fingers, usually
- Hand, a unit used today for horse height, set to 4 inches
- Span, the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger when the hand is stretched out
- Cubit, the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger
- Foot, based on the length of a human foot, later fixed as 12 inches in many systems
- Inch, a small unit in modern use, originally based on thumb width or barley grains
In many old systems, these units were linked. For example, a certain number of digits made one palm, several palms made one span, and so on up to the cubit or foot.
FAQs
What is a palm in simple words?
A palm is an old unit of length based on how wide a human hand is across the four fingers. It is usually taken as about three inches or eight centimeters.
How many centimeters are in one palm?
For simple use, you can think of one palm as about 7.5 to 8 centimeters. The exact value was different in different times and places.
How many inches are in one palm?
One palm is often taken as about three inches. Some old systems used slightly different lengths, but three inches is a good easy value for quick estimates.
Is the palm still used today?
The palm is not used as a standard unit today. It mainly appears in history books, religious studies, and archaeology. In normal life, people use centimeters, meters, inches, and feet instead.
What is the difference between a palm and a hand?
A palm is the width of the flat part of the hand across four fingers. A hand, as a unit still used for horse height, is fixed at four inches. A palm is usually taken as about three inches, so one hand is a bit larger than one palm.
Why did people use the palm in the past?
People used the palm because it was easy. Everyone had hands, so they always had a rough measuring tool with them. The palm helped builders, traders, and farmers measure without special tools.
Can I measure with my own palm today?
Yes, you can use your own palm for quick rough measurements, but it will not be exact. Your palm might not be the same size as someone else’s palm. For school work, building, or science, you should use proper rulers or tape measures marked in centimeters or inches.
How does the palm relate to the cubit?
In many old systems, the cubit was divided into smaller parts, including the palm. For example, a cubit could be made from several palms. The exact number of palms in one cubit depended on the culture and time period.