Weights and Measures aka Units of measurement

A List of of Wordle-able units of measurement, curated by @Documentalista, mostly from in the Système Internationale (SI) but with some fun additions from the c.g.s.

2025 is the anniversary of the Metre Convention, signed in Paris on May 20, 1875 by seventeen countries, including the United States and is now celebrated around the globe as World Metrology Day https://www.bipm.org/en/bipm-anniversary
The decision to establish the SI happened at the 9th meeting of the Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures (CGPM) between 12 and 21 October 1948, https://www.bipm.org/en/committees/cg/cgpm/9-1948, hence the decision to create this list of units for a couple of weeks in October 2025

More lists can be found at https://rentry.co/wordle-meta-list

Calendar

Oct. 12 METRE
Oct. 13 DEBYE
Oct. 14 DARCY
Oct. 15 GAUSS
Oct. 16 MACHE
Oct. 17 HERTZ
Oct. 18 FERMI
Oct. 19 KATAL
Oct. 21 YRNEH

Main List

  1. CURIE a unit of radioactivity equal to 3·7 × 1010 disintegrations per second, frequently used loosely as a unit of quantity of any radioactive substance in which there is this degree of radioactivity.
  2. DARCY A c.g.s. unit of permeability to fluid flow, being the permeability of a medium that allows a flow of 1 cubic centimetre per second of a liquid of 1 centipoise viscosity under a pressure gradient of 1 atmosphere/centimetre.
  3. DEBYE a unit of electrical dipole moment equal to 10−18 e.s.u. (approximately 3·336 × 10−30 coulomb metre).
  4. FARAD A unit of capacitance (now incorporated in SI), equal to the capacitance of a capacitor in which one coulomb of charge causes a potential difference of one volt.
  5. FERMI A unit of length used in nuclear physics, equal to 10− 15 m.
  6. GAUSS The electromagnetic unit of magnetic induction (flux density) in the C.G.S. system, defined as the induction that exerts a force of one dyne on each centimetre of a straight wire carrying one e.m.u. (10 amp.) of current, when the induction is perpendicular to the wire. (In SI the gauss is replaced by the tesla, or weber per square metre, equal to 10,000 gauss.)
  7. HENRY A unit of electrical inductance equal to: the self-inductance of a circuit in which an electromotive force of one volt is induced by a current changing at a rate of one ampere per second (now incorporated in SI;
  8. HERTZ A unit of frequency (now incorporated in SI), equal to one cycle per second.
  9. JOULE A unit of electrical energy equal to the amount of work done by a current of one ampere acting for one second against a resistance of one ohm. In later use (more generally): a unit of energy and work (as incorporated in the International System of Units), equal to the work done by a force of one newton when its point of application moves one metre in the direction of the force.
  10. KATAL SI Unit of catalytic activity mol⋅s−1
  11. LUMEN A unit of luminous flux (now incorporated in SI), equal to the rate of emission of light by a uniform point source of intensity one candela nto a solid angle of one steradian.
  12. MACHE In full Mache unit. A unit of radioactivity equal to 3.64 × 10−10 curie.
  13. METRE One of the fundamental SI units
  14. NEPER A unit of measurement used in comparing voltages, currents, power levels, or other quantities. One neper is equal to 8.686 decibels.
  15. SABIN A unit of sound absorption equal to the absorbing power of one square foot of perfectly absorbing surface;
  16. TESLA A unit of magnetic flux density (now incorporated in the International System of Units), equal to a flux density of one weber per square metre.
  17. TONNE in British English the metric ton, 1000Kg, non-SI but accepted for use within SI. Not to be confused with the short US ton and the Gross (Imperial) ton
  18. WEBER A unit of magnetic flux (now incorporated in the International System of Units), equal to the amount by which the magnetic flux through a loop must change per second in order to induce an electromotive force of one volt (equivalent to 100 million maxwells or one volt-second).
  19. YRNEH Unit of Magnetic reluctance, or magnetic resistance

Plurals and derivatives

  1. ATOMS
  2. GRAMS
  3. KILOS
  4. MOLES
  5. OHMIC
  6. TORR S A unit of pressure used chiefly in measuring air pressure The torr (symbol: Torr) is a unit of pressure based on an absolute scale, defined as exactly ⁠1/760 of a standard atmosphere (101325 Pa). It is not part of the SI system. Historically, if not accurately used as an equivalent of MM Hg, still used in medicine for example. From scientist Evangelista Torriccelli, inventor of the mercury barometer.
  7. VOLTS A unit of electric potential and electromotive force (now incorporated in SI), equal to the potential difference between two points on a conductor carrying a constant current of one ampere when the power dissipated between the points is one watt, and equivalent to the potential difference across a resistance of one ohm when one ampere is flowing through it. From scientist Alessandro Volta, inventor of the first electric battery.
  8. WATTS a unit of power (as incorporated in SI), equal to a rate of energy transfer of one joule per second.

Imperial Systems of Units

The Imperial system of units was first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824. replacing the Winchester standards which had been in vigor since the 1500s. Some of the units in the British system have different equivalence to SI in the US, the latter uses short pints and gallons: I shall henceforth ignore it.

  1. THOUS = 1.44 twips (not wordleable, alas) 1⁄12000 yd Abbreviation of "thousandth of an inch". Also known as mil.
  2. HANDS = 4 in 1⁄3 0.1016 Used to measure the height of horses
  3. YARDS = 3 ft Defined as exactly 0.9144 metres by the International yard and pound agreement of 1959
  4. CHAIN = 22 yd, 100 links, 4 rods, or 1⁄10 of a furlong. The distance between the two wickets on a cricket pitch.
  5. MILES = 1609.344 m, 1760 yd or 80 chains
  6. CABLE = One tenth of a nautical mile(1852 m) . Equal to 100 fathoms under the strict definition.
  7. ACRES = A unit of land equivalent to 1⁄640 of a square mile, 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m2, or about 40% of a hectare. traditionally the area of one CHAIN by one furlong. Since the near demise of the ploughing of the land with a team of 8 oxen, an acre is most often described in term of similariity to the area of a US football field. that's roughly half of the area of an association football pitch.
  8. GILLS = a gill is 1/4 pint
  9. PINTS = 34.76 cu in (569.6 mL; 0.5696 L)
  10. QUART = 69.32 cu in (1.1360 L)
  11. PECKS = 2 gallons, 554.548 cu in (9.08741 L)
  12. MINIM = Apothecary's measure, 1⁄9600 pint or 59.1938802083 μL
  13. GRAIN = 1⁄7000 lb, 64.79891 mg
  14. CARAT = Unit of weight used for precious stones, equivalent to 200 mg, in British English also the measure of gold purity, which in US English is spelt Karat
  15. OUNCE oz = 1⁄16 lb, 28.349523125 g A
  16. POUND lb = 0.45359237 kgexctly Defined by the Units of Measurement Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/2867)
  17. STONE st = 14 lb, 6.35029318 kg The plural stone is often used when providing a weight (e.g. "this sack weighs 8 stone"). A person's weight was usually quoted in stone and pounds in English-speaking countries that use the avoirdupois system, with the exception of the United States and Canada, where it is usually quoted in pounds.
  18. SLUGS = 32.17404856 lb, 14.59390294 kg A slug is a mass that accelerates by 1 ft/s2 when a force of one pound (lbf) is exerted on it.
  19. THERM = a unit of heat equivalent to 100,000 BTU or 1.055 × 108 joules.

Obsolete or specialist units of measurement

  1. CUBIT = an ancient unit of measure, with differing standards across countries and history but basically the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Still used in hedge-laying as the distance between posts
  2. HIDES area varied, land to feed one family
  3. KNOTS = nautical miles
  4. LIGNE = a French unit of length, roughly equal to 2.25 mm (0.089 in), or 9 points
  5. PERCH = 5 ½ Yards
  6. POINT = a unit in typography
  7. STOOP = 4 pints
  8. TRUSS = a unit of mass used to describe tight bundle of hay or straw. also a particularly short-careered UK Prime Minister
  9. WORTH = area of land, similar to HIDE
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Pub: 28 Aug 2025 00:38 UTC

Edit: 23 Sep 2025 01:05 UTC

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