Rood (unit)
Introduction St Vincent, with area given as 454 acres 3 roods (i.e. acres).A '''rood''' (; abbreviation: '''ro''') is a historic English and international inch-pound measure of area, as well as an archaic English measure of length.
Etymology ''Rood'' is an archaic word for "pole", from Old English ''rōd'' "pole", specifically "cross", from Proto-Germanic ''*rodo'', cognate to Old Saxon ''rōda'', Old High German ''ruoda'' "rod"; the relation of ''rood'' to ''rod'', from Old English ''rodd'' "pole", is unclear; the latter was perhaps influenced by Old Norse ''rudda'' "club".In Normandy, where the rood was also used (before being replaced by metric units around 1800), it was known as a ''vergée'', from the French word ''verge'' (stick, rod), which was borrowed in English (see virge).
Measurement of area Rood is an English unit of area equal to one quarter of an acre or 10,890 square feet, exactly . A rectangle that is one furlong (i.e., 10 chains, or 40 rods) in length and one rod in width is one rood in area, as is any space comprising 40 perches (a perch being one square rod). The ''vergée'' was also a quarter of a Normandy ''acre'', and was equal to 40 square ''perches'' (1 Normandy ''acre'' = 160 square ''perches'').The rood was an important measure in surveying on account of its easy conversion to acres. When referring to areas, '''rod''' is often found in old documents and has exactly the same meaning as rood.
Linear measure A rood is also an obsolete British unit of linear measure between . It is related to the German ''Rute'' and the Danish ''rode''. The original OED of 1914 said this sense was "now only in local use, and varying from 6 to 8 yards" (or 18 to 24 ft, "Rood", II.7).
See also *Rood (Scots)*Rood screen* List of obsolete units of measurement
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