View source for Toise

{{Short description|Former unit of length}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=July 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
A '''toise''' ({{IPA|fr|twaz}}; symbol: '''T''') is a unit of measure for [[length]], [[area]] and [[volume]] originating in pre-revolutionary France.  In North America, it was used in colonial French establishments in early [[New France]], [[Louisiana (New France)|French Louisiana]] (''Louisiane''), [[Acadia]] (''Acadie'') and [[Quebec]]. The related '''{{lang|pt|toesa}}''' ({{IPA|pt|tuˈezɐ}}) was used in [[Portugal]], [[Brazil]], and other parts of the [[Portuguese Empire]] until the adoption of the [[metric system]].
 
The name is derived from the Latin {{Lang|la|tensa brachia}}, meaning "outstretched arms".<ref>{{Cite OED|toise}}</ref>

[[File:Toise - Cour Grand Châtelet.jpg|thumb|upright=1|In this illustration from 1702, "B" marks the place outside the [[Grand Châtelet]] in Paris where the standard toise was displayed. "A" shows a straight toise ruler, "D" a folding one.]]

==Definition==
===Unit of length===
{{bulleted list
| 1 toise was divided in 6 [[French units of measurement|feet]] ({{langx|fr|pieds}}) or 72 [[Units of measurement in France before the French Revolution|inches]] ({{lang|fr|pouces}}) or 864 [[Units of measurement in France before the French Revolution|lines]] ({{lang|fr|lignes}}) in France until 1812.

In 1799 the metre was defined to be exactly 443.296 {{lang|fr|lignes}} or {{frac|13,853|27,000}} toise, with the intention that the metre should equal {{frac|1|10,000,000}} of the distance from the pole to the equator. This had the effect of making the toise approximately 1949.03631&nbsp;mm.

According to an article written in 1866, during measurement of various standard length artefacts from several countries, the toise was measured as 1,949.03632&nbsp;mm.<ref>{{Cite journal |first1=A. R. |last1=Clarke |first2=Henry |last2=James |year=1867 |title=Abstract of the Results of the Comparisons of the Standards of Length of England, France, Belgium, Prussia, Russia, India, Australia, Made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London |volume=157 |pages=161&ndash;180 |doi=10.1098/rstl.1867.0010|s2cid=109333769 }}</ref>{{Rp|180}}

Since before 1394, the standard for the toise of Paris was an iron bar embedded in the wall of the [[Grand Châtelet]]. But a little before 1667 the pillar in which the standard was embedded bent and distorted the standard. In 1667 officials constructed a new standard, but there were complaints that the new standard was about 0.5% shorter than the previous one. Nevertheless, the new standard was mandated. The old standard was then called "{{lang|fr|toise de l'Écritoire}}".

From 1668 to 1776 the French standard of length was the Toise of Châtelet, which was fixed outside the Grand Châtelet in Paris. In 1735 two geodetic standards were calibrated against the Toise of Châtelet. One of them, the Toise of Peru, was used for the [[French Geodesic Mission|Spanish-French Geodesic Mission]]. In 1766 the Toise of Peru became the official standard of length in France and was renamed Toise of the [[French Academy of Sciences|Academy]] ({{lang|fr|Toise de l'Académie}}). In 1799, after the remeasurement of the [[Paris meridian]] arc ({{lang|fr|Méridienne de France}}) between [[Dunkirk]] and [[Barcelona]] by [[Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre|Delambre]] and [[Pierre Méchain|Mechain]], the metre was defined as 3 {{lang|fr|pieds}} (feet) and 11.296 {{lang|fr|lignes}} (lines) of the Toise of the Academy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.entreprises.gouv.fr/metrologie/histoire-metre|title=Histoire du mètre|work=Direction Générale des Entreprises (DGE)|access-date=2017-12-27}}</ref>

| 1 toise was exactly 2 metres in France between 1812 and 1 January 1840 ([[mesures usuelles]]).
| 1 toise {{=}} 1.8 metres in [[Switzerland]].
| 1 {{lang|pt|toesa}} {{=}} 6 [[Portuguese customary units|feet]] ({{langx|pt|pés}}) {{=}} 1.98&nbsp;m in Portugal.
}}

===Unit of area===
* 1 toise was about 3.799 square metres, or a square French toise, as a measure for land and masonry area in [[France]] before 10 December 1799.

===Unit of volume===
* 1 toise = 8.0 [[cubic metre]]s (20th century [[Haiti]])

==See also==
* [[Units of measurement in France before the French Revolution]]
* [[Portuguese customary units]]
* [[Ottoman units of measurement]]
* [[Fathom]] and [[klafter]], similar units

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.sizes.com/units/toise.htm Sizes.com toise page]
*[http://www.sizes.com/units/majsource.htm#UN1966 Reference from UN] United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Statistical Office of the United Nations

[[Category:Units of length]]
[[Category:Units of area]]
[[Category:Obsolete units of measurement]]
[[Category:Units of volume]]