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The inch (abbreviation: in or ″) is a unit of length in the (British) imperial and United States customary systems of measurement now formally equal to 1⁄36 yard but usually understood as 1⁄12 of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth"), inch is also sometimes used to translate related units in other measurement systems, usually understood as deriving from the width of the human thumb.
A metric inch is a nickname for a preferred 1⁄4 subdivision of an ISO 2848 basic module, or 1⁄12 of a metric foot measuring 25 millimetres (0.984 in). A metric inch is 0.4 millimetres (0.016 in) shorter than an inch.
The term was similarly used to refer to the historical Soviet Bloc practice of spacing integrated circuit pins at 1⁄10 of a 25 mm "metric inch" length, instead of the western practice of 1⁄10 of an imperial inch.