footrule

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a measuring rule one foot long, usually divided into inches

   The physicist used a footrule to illustrate how a changing standard would make comparison impossible.

A compound of foot + rule. Rule in the measuring sense comes through Old French reule from Latin regula, 'straight stick, standard,' related to regere, 'to guide or make straight.' The compound names a rule whose standard length is one foot.

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