covado

English

Etymology

From Portuguese côvado, from Old Galician-Portuguese côbedo, from Latin cubitum (“cubit”). Doublet of cubit and codo.

Noun

covado (plural covados)

1. (historical, measure) A traditional Portuguese unit of length, usually about equal to 0.6 meters and approximating the length of a forearm and hand.

Usage notes

The notional covado (côvado craveiro) of 24 polegadas was previously lengthened by 8 linhas (³⁄₄ polegada) for the long covado (côvado avantejado) in some commercial contexts.

Synonyms

• Portuguese cubit, cubit (in Portuguese contexts)

Coordinate terms

• dedo (¹⁄₃₆ covado), polegada (¹⁄₂₄ covado), palmo (¹⁄₃ covado), Portuguese foot (¹⁄₂ covado), vara (1+²⁄₃ covados), passo (2+¹⁄₂ covados), toesa (3 covados), braça (3+¹⁄₃ côvados)