Lieue (Paris League) (lieue)

French (Ancien Régime)Historical unit (no longer in standard use)

2,000 toises, about 3.898 km: the Paris league of 1674. The later post league (lieue de poste, 1737) was longer, at 2,200 toises or about 4.288 km.

1 lieue (Paris league) = 3,898.07262 meters (approximately).

1 lieue (Paris league) = 3,898.07262 meters

About the lieue (Paris league)

Lieue descends from the Celtic league that the Romans adopted as the leuga. The Gallic version, about one and a half Roman miles, replaced the Roman mile as the official road distance in Gaul and Germania under Septimius Severus. In France the word later covered several different distances rather than one.

The figure used here, about 3,898 metres, is 2,000 toises, which Wikipedia's article on traditional French units calls the Paris league of 1674. The lieue de poste, which measured stages on the royal coach and mail routes, was set at 2,200 toises in 1737, about 4.288 kilometres. Wikipedia's league article lists the post league at the shorter 3,898 metres, so its two articles disagree about which league carried that name.

Other French leagues ranged from 10,000 to 14,400 pieds, or roughly 3.25 to 4.68 kilometres. The metric lieue of exactly 4,000 metres was used in the customary system between 1812 and 1840. Since the unit was never standardized, any conversion to kilometres should name which lieue is meant.

Sources: Wikipedia: League (unit); Wikipedia: Traditional French units of measurement; Wikipedia: Toise

Lieue (Paris League) conversion chart

1 lieue (Paris league) expressed in every other length unit:

Unit1 lieue (Paris league)
Meters3,898.07262
Kilometers3.89807262
Centimeters389,807.262
Millimeters3,898,072.62
Inches153,467.426
Feet12,788.95216
Yards4,262.984055
Miles2.422150031
Micrometers3,898,072,620
Nanometers3,898,072,619,649
Nautical Miles2.104790831
Pixels (CSS)14,732,872.89
Light-years4.12026601×10⁻¹³
Picometers3.89807262×10¹⁵
Femtometers3.89807262×10¹⁸
Decimeters38,980.7262
Hectometers38.9807262
Decameters389.807262
Thou153,467,426
Points11,049,654.67
Picas920,804.5558
Twips220,993,093.4
Astronomical Units2.605700603×10⁻⁸
Light-seconds0.00001300257066
Light-minutes2.167095111×10⁻⁷
Light-hours3.611825184×10⁻⁹
Parsecs1.263279301×10⁻¹³
Megaparsecs1.263279301×10⁻¹⁹
Angstroms38,980,726,196,492
Fathoms2,131.492027
Cable Lengths21.04790831
Leagues0.8073833437
Nautical Leagues0.7015969438
Furlongs19.37720025
Chains193.7720025
Rods775.08801
Links19,377.20025
Hands38,366.85649
Barleycorns460,402.2779
Palms51,155.80866
Spans17,051.93622
Cubits8,525.968109
Ells3,410.387244
US Survey Feet12,788.92659
US Survey Miles2.422145187
Stadia20.30246156
Roman Inches158,458.2366
Roman Feet13,169.16426
Roman Cubits8,779.442837
Roman Paces2,633.832851
Roman Stadia21.07066281
Roman Miles2.633832851
Roman Leagues1.755888567
Greek Feet12,181.47694
Royal Cubits7,424.900228
Egyptian Palms51,974.3016
Egyptian Fingers207,897.2064
Khet74.24900228
Biblical Cubits7,218.652999
Sabbath Days' Journeys3.6093265
Sun128,636.3964
Shaku12,863.63964
Ken2,143.939941
Jō1,286.363964
Chō35.73233235
Ri (Japanese)0.9925647874
Fen (Chinese)1,169,421.786
Cun (Chinese)116,942.1786
Chi (Chinese)11,694.21786
Zhang (Chinese)1,169.421786
Li (Chinese)7.796145239
Vershoks87,695.67198
Arshins5,480.979499
Sazhens1,826.993166
Versts3.653986333
Lignes1,728,000
Pouces144,000
Pieds Du Roi12,000
Toises2,000
Varas4,663.324105
Leguas0.6994986158
Wa (Thai)1,949.03631
Sen (Thai)97.45181549
Scandinavian Mil0.389807262

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