furlong

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a unit of distance equal to one eighth of a mile, 220 yards, or 201.168 metres, now used chiefly in horse racing

   The favorite took the lead with one furlong left to run.

2. 2
   noun

   historical: a long division or group of strips in an unenclosed field

   The medieval holding consisted of narrow strips scattered across each furlong.

Simplified etymology

Furlong comes from Old English furlang, formed from furh, “furrow,” and lang, “long.” It originally denoted the standard length of a furrow in a common field. Its present measurement arose when it was treated as equivalent to the Roman stadium, one eighth of a Roman mile.

From Old English furlang, literally 'furrow-long', formed from furh, 'furrow', and lang, 'long'. It denoted the usual length of a furrow before a team of oxen rested, and that agricultural distance became standardized as one eighth of a mile.

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