Question

cubit noun The cubit is an ancient unit of length that may have originated in Egypt close to 5,000 years ago. "Cubit" can refer to various units used in the ancient world, the actual length of which varied from time to time and place to place, but which was generally equivalent to the length of the human arm from elbow to fingertip-roughly about a foot and a half. (Appropriately, the word's source is a Latin word meaning "elbow.") Starting with the Wycliffe Bible in 1382, "cubit" has been used as the English translation for the measurement known in Biblical Hebrew as the "ammah" and in Koine as the "péchus." : any of various ancient units of length based on the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger and usually equal to about 18 inches (46 centimeters)

Accepted Answer

November 20, 2013 KYOO-bit The teacher explained that the ancient Egyptians did not measure things in feet and yards as we do but rather calculated measurements using the cubit.   "This kind of marketing probably goes back to Biblical times. Some unemployed shoemaker near the Sea of West Hollywood is heading out to the beach in his ratty old shoes and a surfboard (4 cubits long) when his wife, Sandy, stops him." - From an article by Tony Bender in Devils Lake Journal (North Dakota), August 1, 2013

Word	cubit
Date	November 20, 2013
Type	noun
Syllables	KYOO-bit
Etymology	The cubit is an ancient unit of length that may have originated in Egypt close to 5,000 years ago. "Cubit" can refer to various units used in the ancient world, the actual length of which varied from time to time and place to place, but which was generally equivalent to the length of the human arm from elbow to fingertip-roughly about a foot and a half. (Appropriately, the word's source is a Latin word meaning "elbow.") Starting with the Wycliffe Bible in 1382, "cubit" has been used as the English translation for the measurement known in Biblical Hebrew as the "ammah" and in Koine as the "péchus."
Examples	The teacher explained that the ancient Egyptians did not measure things in feet and yards as we do but rather calculated measurements using the cubit. "This kind of marketing probably goes back to Biblical times. Some unemployed shoemaker near the Sea of West Hollywood is heading out to the beach in his ratty old shoes and a surfboard (4 cubits long) when his wife, Sandy, stops him." - From an article by Tony Bender in Devils Lake Journal (North Dakota), August 1, 2013
Definition	: any of various ancient units of length based on the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger and usually equal to about 18 inches (46 centimeters)

Length Ancient Cubit Units Time Elbow Biblical November