furlong English · revision 1553

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 900}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfɜːlɒŋ/ ''(UK)''; /ˈfɝˌlɔŋ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|furlong]], [[inh|ang|furlang|t=length of a furrow]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Klein 1966) a compound of [[m|ang|furh|t=furrow]] (see [[furrow]]) and [[m|ang|lang|t=long]] (see [[long]]).^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Originally the length of the furrow in the common field, theoretically a square of ten acres;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from about 900 it was used to render Latin ''stadium'' and Greek ''stadion''.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As the “acre” of the common field was measured in various ways, the furlong varied, but it was eventually fixed by custom at 40 rods.^(Etymonline) Because it translated the Roman ''stadium'', one eighth of a Roman mile, it came to mean one eighth of an English mile,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) 220 yards.^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023) In Middle English a ''furlong way'' was the time taken to walk a furlong, about two and a half minutes, and so a brief space.^(MED)^(OED 1989) In dialect it also meant a division of an unenclosed field.^(MWU 2024) Today the unit is used chiefly in [[horse racing]].^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 900 – rendering Latin ''stadium''.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1330 – a measure in current use.^(OED 1989)^(MED)

+ * c. 1384 – ''furlong way'', a short time (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A unit of distance equal to one eighth of a [[mile]], 220 [[yard|alt=yards]] or about 201 metres.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(dialect)'' A division of an unenclosed field.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[furrow]]

+ * [[long]]

+ * [[stadium]]

+ * [[rod]]

+ * [[acre]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}