furlong
furlong--a measure of length; 220 yards or 660 feet. The English mile gets its length, 5,280 feet, from its original definition as eight furlongs.
The word means a “furrow length.” This was an important length because it was the distance a team of oxen could plough without resting. It was hard to turn a team of oxen, so one plowed until the animals were tired, then let them rest while the plow was turned.
The furlong was so important as a measure of distances and areas for records of land ownership in early England, that, in the year 1500, the old Roman mile was redefined as equal to eight furlongs. It was easier to change the mile to furlongs than the well established furlong to miles. In those days actual rods and chains of standardized lengths were laid down to survey distances. In those measures a furlong was equivalent to 40 rods or 10 chains.
Here the furlong appears in the Maryland Gazette 15 Aug 1754 in an account of a fire.
May 25. On Tuesday about One o’Clock in the Morning, a Fire broke out at Houghton Mills, near Huntingdon, by which they were entirely consumed, notwithstanding the assistance of several hundred Persons from the neighbouring Towns, and a large Quantity of Wheat and Flour was destroyed. By the violence of the Wind the Flames were communicated to a House and Barn about a Furlong distant which were also totally consumed. It is thought the Mills were set on fire by some evil minded Persons, one of which is committed to Huntingdon Gaol on some strong suspicion.
The furlong is now a term now used mostly in horse racing.
Word origin. From the Old English words fury, “furrow” and lang “long.”
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