---
title: cubit — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «cubit» in the Early Modern English dictionary: An old unit of length, the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/C/cubit/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/) / [C](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/C/) / cubit

# cubit

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Ten cubits, Other fishes, cubit · **What happens:** be, have · **To what, where:** length, cubit, heads

<!-- .vabout -->
«cubit» in the Early Modern English dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 3 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [cubit in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/cubit.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An old unit of length, the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:cubit:m1:1
# text = An old unit of length, the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	unit	unit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	elbow	elbow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	tip	tip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	middle	middle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	finger	finger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ten cubits was the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board.

<!-- .note -->
From Torah EXO.36.21, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:cubit:x1:1
# text = Ten cubits was the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board.
1	Ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	cubits	cubit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	board	board	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	cubit	cubit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	parataxis	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	12	conj	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	breadth	breadth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	20	det	_	_
20	board	board	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Ten cubits | the length |  |  |  | of a board | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Other fishes there were only a cubit long which had heads like owls.

<!-- .note -->
From The Arabian Nights Entertainments.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:cubit:x2:1
# text = Other fishes there were only a cubit long which had heads like owls.
1	Other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	fishes	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
3	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	cubit	cubit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
9	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
11	heads	head	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
12	like	like	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	owls	owl	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Other fishes | a cubit |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | past | a cubit | heads |  |  |  | like owls | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Patient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board.

<!-- .note -->
From Torah EXO.26.16, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:cubit:x3:1
# text = Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board.
1	Ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	cubits	cubit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	board	board	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	cubit	cubit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	parataxis	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	13	conj	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	breadth	breadth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	conj	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	21	det	_	_
21	board	board	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | shall | Ten cubits | the length |  |  |  | of a board | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the Early Modern English dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova; its examples quote public-domain texts. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [crown](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/C/crown/)
- next →: [cunning](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/C/cunning/)
- ↑ back to [C in Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/C/)