Names
Decided: short names (3-4 letters preferred), Latin roots where possible, no clash with an existing unit, no everyday word whose meaning would mislead, and no object or container names.
Why: short names are quick to say and write; Latin roots echo older measures (pace, uncia, libra) and work across languages; clashes cause confusion when both systems are in use. Everyday words are fine when their meaning fits the size (pace, span, dig, blink, beat, breath, moment, chime) - that's what makes them easy to remember. The rule used to say "no clash with existing everyday words", which contradicted those names.
Advantage: units are quick to say, easy to remember, and never confused with SI or imperial ones.
| Quantity | Name | Symbol | Size (SI) | Named after | English relatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time (base) | blink | bl | 0.3472 s | English: the blink of an eye | |
| Time (≈ second) | beat | bt | 1.0417 s | English: a heartbeat | |
| Time (clock) | breath | br | 4.1667 s | English: one breath | |
| Time (dozenal minute) | moment | mt | 50 s exactly | Latin momentum, movement; medieval moment = 90 s | moment, momentum |
| Time (dozenal hour) | chime | ch | 2 h exactly | English: clocks chime on the hour | |
| Length (base) | pace | p | 1.4525 m | Latin passus, a pace (Roman pace ≈ 1.48 m) | pace, passage |
| 1/10 pace | unc | un | ≈ 12.1 cm | Latin uncia, a twelfth | inch, ounce |
| 1/100 pace | dig | di | ≈ 1.01 cm | Latin digitus, finger (Roman digit ≈ 1.85 cm) | digit |
| 0;2 pace | span | sp | ≈ 24.2 cm | English span, a hand's spread | span |
| 0;4 pace | ulna | ul | ≈ 48.4 cm | Latin ulna, forearm (elbow to fingertip) | ell |
| 0;6 pace (a step) | gress | gs | ≈ 72.6 cm | Latin gressus, a step (Roman gradus = ½ passus) | progress, egress |
| 1,000 paces (distance) | iter | ir | ≈ 2.51 km | Latin iter, road, journey | itinerary |
| 930 paces (sea, air) | navis | na | ≈ 1.935 km | Latin navis, ship | navy, navigate |
| Star distances | parax | px | 2.30 pc, 7.5 ly | parallaxis, astronomers' Latin (from Greek) | parallax |
| Area | ager | ag | ≈ 3,646 m² | Latin ager, field | agriculture |
| Mass | lib | li | ≈ 1.7714 kg | Latin libra, pound; also scales (Roman pound) | lb (pound), Libra |
| Volume (unc cube) | cub | cu | 1.7736 L | Latin cubus, cube | cube, cubic |
| Temperature | tep | °t | 0.694 K/°C | Latin tepor, warmth | tepid |
| Force | vis | vi | ≈ 21.3 N | Latin vis, force, strength | vim |
| Energy | opus | op | ≈ 31.0 J | Latin opus, work | opus, operate |
| Power | vig | vg | ≈ 89.3 W | Latin vigor, liveliness, energy | vigour, vigorous |
| Pressure | pres | pr | ≈ 10.1 Pa | Latin pressus, pressed | press, pressure |
| Current | riv | ri | ≈ 12.28 A | Latin rivus, a stream | rivulet, derive |
| Charge | onus | os | ≈ 4.266 C | Latin onus, load, burden | onus, onerous |
| Voltage | imp | im | ≈ 7.268 V | Latin impetus, push, rush | impetus, impetuous |
| Amount of substance | grex | gx | 6.17 × 10^23 things | Latin grex, flock, herd | gregarious, congregate |
| Luminous intensity | lam | la | 0.980 cd | Latin lampas, lamp, torch | lamp |
| Sound level | vox | vo | ≈ 0.90 dB per vox | Latin vox, voice | voice, vocal |
- Rejected: heft, jug (object names), pond (sounds like a lake), mass/vol (clash with quantity names / "% vol"), hand (clashes with horse hand 10.16 cm), nail, inc (too close to "inch"), lux/lum (existing SI units), cal (calorie), pot (container), erg (CGS unit), grad (gradian), mol (mole)