Ell wide. Ell An ell (from Proto-Germanic *"alinō", cognate with Latin "ulna") is a unit of measurement, originally a cubit, i.e., approximating the length of a man's arm from the elbow ("" literally meant the bend ("bow") of the arm ("ell")) to the tip of the middle finger, or about 18 inches (457 mm); in later usage, any of several longer units. In English-speaking countries, these included (until the 19th century) the Flemish ell ( of a yard), English ell ( yards) and French ell ( yards), some of which are thought to derive from a "double ell". An ell-wand or
The finger dust, spit and her middle finger to mark the forehead before casting a spell. The poet Martial has a character in good health extend "the indecent one" toward three doctors. In another epigram, Martial wrote: "Laugh loud, Sextillus, at whoever calls you a "cinaedus" and extend your middle finger." Juvenal, through synecdoche, has the "middle nail" cocked at threatening Fortuna. The indecent finger features again in a mocking context in the "Priapeia", a collection of poems relating to the phallic god Priapus. In Late Antiquity, the term "shameless finger" is explained in the "Etymologiae" of Isidore of Seville with reference