A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Ell (Eng.noun): an obsolete unit of measurement of various lengths; the word is related to the Latin ulna,-ae (s.f.I), q.v., the ‘elbow;’ see cubitalis,-e (adj.B); see cubitus,-i (s.m.II). In botany, Jackson wrote that the ell = “a measure variously understood, the English ell being 45 inches, the French ell 54 inches.” The noun ‘ell,’ however, has been used in various dictionaries, to represent the ulna,-ae (s.f.I) as a measure of length, e.g. Lewis & Short. The ulna, in botany, however, represents two feet (24 inches, ca. 64 cm.) according to both Lindley and Jackson. The word ‘ell’ is confused both with a measurement of two feet (ulna,-ae (s.f.I), q.v., also brachium,-ii (s.n.II), q.v.), and one and one half feet (cubitus,-i (s.m.II), q.v.).

NOTE: 45 inches = 114 cm; 54 inches = 137 cm.

Ell (measure of length): = cubitus,-i (s.m.II) (Stearn); see cubitus,-i (s.m.II).

Ell: “an English unit of length chiefly for cloth equivalent to 45 inches but no longer used; any of various units of length similar in use to the English ‘ell’(as the old Dutch or Flemish unit of about 27 inches, the Scotch unit of about 37 inches [etc.]; = a cubit” (WIII).

NOTE: in botany, the English word ‘ell’ (elbow) may represent two measures of length: 2 feet (24 inches) and one and one half feet (16 inches) probably due to the confusion of Latin ‘ulna,-ae (s.f.I)’ and ‘cubitus,-i (s.m.II),’ both of which translate as ‘elbow’ into English.