below from
How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill league
a traditional unit of distance. Derived from an ancient Celtic unit and adopted by the Romans as the leuga, the league became a common unit of measurement throughout western Europe. It was intended to represent, roughly, the distance a person could walk in an hour. The Celtic unit seems to have been rather short (about 1.5 Roman miles, which is roughly 1.4 statute miles or 2275 meters), but the unit grew longer over time. In many cases it was equal to 3 miles, using whatever version of the mile was current. At sea, the league was most often equal to 3 nautical miles, which is 1/20 degree [2], 3.45 statute miles, or exactly 5556 meters. In the U.S. and Britain, standard practice is to define the league to be 3 statute miles (about 4828.03 meters) on land or 3 nautical miles at sea. However, many occurrences of the "league" in English-language works are actually references to the Spanish league (the legua), the Portuguese league (legoa) or the French league (lieue). For these units, see below on this page.
legoa
the Portuguese league, equal to 3 milhas (Portuguese miles). This is equal to about 3.836 statute miles or 6174.1 meters.
legua [1]
the Spanish league. The traditional legua is equal to 5000 varas, which is close to 2.6 miles or 4.2 kilometers. Using the Texas definition of the vara, the legua is 2.6305 miles, 13889 feet, or 4233.4 meters. Using the traditional Spanish definition, it would be 2.597 miles, 13712 feet, or 4179.4 meters. Technically, this unit was abolished by Philip II in 1568, but it remained in rather wide use, especially in the Americas. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a league of 8000 varas (4.15 miles or 6680 meters) was legal in Spain. At sea, Spanish sailors used the usual marine league (3 nautical miles or 5556 meters) or Philip V's "geographical" league of 1/17.5 degree (3.429 nautical miles or 6350.5 meters). At present, the legua is used informally in Argentina and in other Spanish-speaking countries as a metric unit equal to exactly 5 kilometers (3.107 miles).
legua [2]
a traditional Spanish unit of area equal to one square legua [1]. In Spanish-speaking Latin America and the southwestern states of the U.S. land was customarily measured in leguas, with 1 legua equal to 25 labors (see above) or 25 million square varas. Using the Texas definition of the vara as the starting point, the legua is 4428.4 acres, 6.919 square miles, 1792 hectares, or 17.92 square kilometers. A slightly larger figure, 4439 acres (1796 hectares), is used in California. Larger sizes, between 1800 and 1900 hectares, were formerly used in some parts of South America. In Mexico and Texas, this unit is often called a sitio.
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from infoplease -
league
Rather indefinite and varying measure, but usually estimated at 3 miles in English-speaking countrie
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from Wikipedia -
League (unit)
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League is a unit of distance long common in Europe and Latin America, although no longer an official unit in any nation. In the 1800s, a league was also a unit of area.
The league, as a unit of length, expresses the distance a person, or a horse, can walk in 1 hour of time (usually about 3 miles or 5 kilometres).
In English units in the past couple of centuries or so, it was most often 3 nautical miles, or about 5.56 km (nautical miles varied slightly at different times and places). However, English language usage includes use of this word for any of the various leagues mentioned below, e.g., in discussing the Treaty of Tordesillas.
As a unit of area, a league is defined as being equal to 4428.4 acres. This usage of league is referenced constantly in the Texas Constitution.
[edit]
Different definitions
The league was used by Ancient Rome, which defined it as being 3 miles. The origin is the Persian parasang which came to the Romans via the Greek.
The Spanish League or Legua was originally set as a fixed unit of distance of 5000 varas, about 2.6 miles or 4.2 km. Officially the league was abolished by Philip II of Spain in 1568, but it is still in use unofficially in parts of Latin America, with exact meaning varying in different countries.
In Argentina a league is a distance of 5 km.
In Brazil the league has fallen into disuse, but it used to be described as equivalent to 6 km.
In Yucatan and other parts of rural Mexico the league is still commonly used in the original sense of the distance that can be covered on foot in an hour, so that a league along a good road on level ground is a greater distance than a league on a difficult path over rough terrain.
The French lieue exists in several variants, all in the neighborhood of 4 km. Its use overlapped the metric system for a while but is now long discontinued. The nautical league was worth 3 nautical miles.
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from
RootsWeb.com Lieue
An old french unit of length (English translation = league). There were a number of different definitions of a lieue, ranging from the 17th century lieue equal to 1666 toise [7], the 18th century "lieue de poste" or "Lieue de Ponts et Chaussées" equal to 2000 toise (2.422 miles) [6,7] to a "lieu" equal to 10 km (6.24 miles). [3] In modern metric France, the Lieue is now considered to equal exactly 4 km (2.486 miles).
Marine surveyor's used a lieue equal to 1/25 degree of latitude. This translated to 2.4 nautical miles, 2.762 statute miles or 4.445 km. [6] The scale on an old map of the Island of Montreal printed in 1744 referred to "Lieue Communes de France de 2282 Toises" which when converted equals 2.768 miles, almost identical to the above 1/25 degree Lieue. [3] The same map has a second scale labelled "Grandes Lieues de France de 2853 Toises" which converts to 5.560 km (3.456 miles). This length is almost identical to the modern, internationally recognized league of 3 nautical miles (5.556 km or 3.452 miles). [6]
The seigniories granted by the old French Regime in New France all specified the area in terms of so many "lieues" of frontage (usually on a river) by so many lieues of depth without specifying which lieue was used. Comparing the old records for the Seigniory of Beauharnois which was 6 lieues by 6 lieues to the distances on a modern topo map, showed that it was 20.44 miles wide on the back side or 3.406 miles per lieue. This is close to the 3.456 miles per "Grande Lieue". Other documents state that Beauharnois was 18.3 miles on a side which would not correspond to any of the defined Lieues. [8] The mystery continues.
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from
LinguaSphere.org/dictionary This dictionary is based on WoedNet 2.1. Princeton University
Sense 3 league -- (an obsolete unit of distance of variable length (usually 3 miles)) -> linear unit -- (a unit of measurement of length) => astronomy unit -- (a linear unit used for astronomical distances) => metric linear unit -- (a linear unit of distance in metric terms) => nautical linear unit -- (a linear unit of distance used in navigation) => inch, in -- (a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot) => foot, ft -- (a linear unit of length equal to 12 inches or a third of a yard; "he is six feet tall") => footer -- ((used only in combinations) the height or length of something in feet; "he is a six-footer"; "the golfer sank a 40-footer"; "his yacht is a 60-footer") => yard, pace -- (a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride) => yarder -- ((used only in combinations) the height of length of something in yards; "the golfer hit a 300-yarder to the green") => perch, rod, pole -- (a linear measure of 16.5 feet) => furlong -- (a unit of length equal to 220 yards) => mile, statute mile, stat mi, land mile, mi -- (a unit of length equal to 1760 yards) => miler -- ((used only in combinations) the length of something in miles; "the race was a 30-miler") => half mile, 880 yards -- (a unit of length equal to half of 1 mile) => quarter mile, 440 yards -- (a unit of length equal to a quarter of 1 mile) => league -- (an obsolete unit of distance of variable length (usually 3 miles)) => ligne -- (a linear unit (1/40 inch) used to measure diameter of buttons) => nail -- (a former unit of length for cloth equal to 1/16 of a yard) => archine -- (a Russian unit of length (71 cm)) => kos, coss -- (an Indian unit of length having different values in different localities) => vara -- (a Spanish unit of length (about a yard) having different values in different localities) => verst -- (a Russian unit of length (1.067 km)) => cable, cable length, cable's length -- (a nautical unit of depth) => chain -- (a unit of length) => cubit -- (an ancient unit of length based on the length of the forearm) => finger, fingerbreadth, finger's breadth, digit -- (the length of breadth of a finger used as a linear measure) => fistmele -- (about seven inches; the breadth of a fist with the thumb stuck out (used especially in archery to give the correct distance of the string from the bow)) => body length -- (the length of your body) => handbreadth, handsbreadth -- (any unit of length based on the breadth of the human hand) => head -- (the length or height based on the size of a human or animal head; "he is two heads taller than his little sister"; "his horse won by a head") => lea -- (a unit of length of thread or yarn) => li -- (Chinese distance measure; approximately 0.5 kilometers) => link -- (a unit of length equal to 1/100 of a chain) => mesh -- (the number of opening per inch of a screen; measures size of particles; "a 100 mesh screen"; "100 mesh powdered cellulose") => mil -- (a unit of length equal to one thousandth of an inch; used to specify thickness (e.g., of sheets or wire)) => mile, Swedish mile -- (a Swedish unit of length equivalent to 10 km) => mile, Roman mile -- (an ancient Roman unit of length equivalent to 1620 yards) => Roman pace -- (an ancient Roman unit of length (4.85 English feet) measured as the distance from the heel of one foot to the heel of the same foot when next it touches the ground) => geometric pace -- (a modern version of the Roman pace now taken to be 5 feet) => military pace -- (the length of a single step in marching (taken to be 30 inches for quick time or 36 inches for double time)) => palm -- (a linear unit based on the length or width of the human hand) => span -- (a unit of length based on the width of the expanded human hand (usually taken as 9 inches)) => fathom, fthm -- (a linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth) => point -- (a linear unit used to measure the size of type; approximately 1/72 inch) => em, pica em, pica -- (a linear unit (1/6 inch) used in printing) => en, nut -- (half the width of an em) => cicero -- (a linear unit of the size of type slightly larger than an em)
