Wey (unit) explained

The wey or weight (Old English: English, Old (ca.450-1100);: ƿæᵹe, waege,  "weight")^[1] was an English unit of weight and dry volume by at least 900 AD, when it began to be mentioned in surviving legal codes.

Weight

A statute of Edgar the Peaceful set a price floor on wool by threatening both the seller and purchaser who agreed to trade a wool wey for less than 120 pence (i.e., ½ pound of sterling silver per wey), but the wey itself varied over time and by location. The wey was standardized as 14 stones of 12½ merchants' pounds each (175 lbs. or around 76.5 kg) by the time of the Assize of Weights and Measures . This wey was applied to lead, soap, and cheese, as well as wool. 2 wey made a sack, 12 a load, and 24 a last.^[2]

The wool wey was later figured as 2 hundredweight of 8 stone of 14 avoirdupois pounds each (224 lbs. or about 101.7 kg).^[3]

The Suffolk wey was 356 avoirdupois pounds (around 161.5 kg). It was used as a measure for butter and cheese.^[4]

Volume

As a measure of volume for dry commodities, it denoted roughly 40 bushels or 320lk=onNaNlk=on.^[5]

See also

• English units
• Stone, sack, last, & load
• Whey (unit)

Notes and References

1. Web site: How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement: W . Rowlett . Russ . University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180811212038/http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictW.html . 11 August 2018.
2. The Assize of Weights and Measures. .
3. Book: Cardarelli, F. . Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins.. Springer. 2003. 978-1-4471-1122-1. London. 49.
4. Book: Cardarelli, F.. Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins.. Springer. 2003. 978-1-4471-1122-1. London. 46.
5. Book: Cardarelli, F.. Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins.. Springer. 2003. 978-1-4471-1122-1. London. 23.