alnage means measurement (of cloth) by the ell, specifically, official inspection and measurement of woollen cloth, and attestation of its value by the affixing of a lead seal, as was once required by British law. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
alnage is pronounced /ˈɔːlnɪd͡ʒ/.
Why “alnage” is a great word
ALNAGE — [Noun] The official inspection, measurement by the ell, and sealing of woollen cloth, or the duty paid for this service, as formerly required by English law. From Middle English aulnage, from Old French alnage, aulnage (modern French aunage), from alne ("ell"), of Germanic origin, akin to Old High German elina and Gothic aleina ("cubit, ell"). Unlike "metrology" (the abstract science of measurement) or "assay" (the testing of metals), alnage was the concrete application of royal authority to the warp and weft of commerce. It is the cold press of the king's seal into damp wool, the unfurling of broadcloth across a stained oak table, and the exacting stretch of the ell-stick along the fabric—a vanished machinery of trust, measured out one arm's length at a time.
noun
- Measurement (of cloth) by the ell, specifically, official inspection and measurement of woollen cloth, and attestation of its value by the affixing of a lead seal, as was once required by British law.“Poets and kings are but the clerks of Time,
Tiering the same dull webs of discontent,
Clipping the same sad alnage of the years.”
- A duty paid for such measurement.