kyynärä
Finnish
(index ky)
Etymology
From Proto-Uralic *küńä. Cognates include Estonian küünar, Northern Sami gardnjil, Erzya кенерь (keńeŕ), Udmurt gyr in гырпум (gyrpum, “elbow”), Hungarian könyök.
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈkyːnæræ/
- Hyphenation: kyy‧nä‧rä
Noun
kyynärä
- A traditional measure of length used in Sweden and Finland.
- An English cubit.
Declension
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Declension of kyynärä (type koira)
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Usage notes
In current usage, kyynärä mostly refers to the English cubit (=45.7 cm). Dictionaries sometimes offer ell as an alternative translation. The length of an ell has varied in the course of time, but currently an English ell equals 2.5 cubits (=114.3 cm), and is thus almost twice as long as the traditional Swedish/Finnish kyynärä (=59.4 cm). A German elle (=60 cm) is practically the same length as kyynärä, which may be one source for the confusion. The Scots have their own ell, which equals 94.5 cm. For more information on the confusing world of non-metric measures, check http://www.onlineunitconversion.com.