In typography, the stick, stickful, or stick of type was an inexact length based on the size of the various composing sticks used by newspaper editors to assemble pieces of moveable type. In English-language papers, it was roughly equal to 2 column inches or 100–150 words. In France, Spain, and Italy, sticks generally contained only between 1 and 4 lines of text each. A column was notionally equal to 10 sticks.
| Definition | Relation to SI units |
|---|---|
≡ 2 in |
| pace | gigameter | league (land) | zettameter | rod | finger | spat | hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7.62 × 10-10 | 0.0001578 | 7.62 × 10-22 | 0.1515152 | 34.2857143 | 7.62 × 10-13 | 7.5 |
| 1,312,335,958.0052 | 1 | 207,125.1035626 | 1.0 × 10-12 | 198,838,781.51595 | 44,994,375,703.037 | 0.001 | 9,842,519,685.0394 |
| 6,335.9580052 | 4.828 × 10-6 | 1 | 4.828 × 10-18 | 959.9936372 | 217,232.8458943 | 4.828 × 10-9 | 47,519.6850394 |
| 1.3123359580052 × 1021 | 1 000 000 000 000 | 2.0712510356255 × 1017 | 1 | 1.9883878151595 × 1020 | 4.4994375703037 × 1022 | 1 000 000 000 | 9.8425196850394 × 1021 |
| 6.6 | 5.0292 × 10-9 | 0.0010417 | 5.0292 × 10-21 | 1 | 226.2857143 | 5.0292 × 10-12 | 49.5 |
| 0.0291667 | 2.2225 × 10-11 | 4.6033554266777 × 10-6 | 2.2225 × 10-23 | 0.0044192 | 1 | 2.2225 × 10-14 | 0.21875 |
| 1,312,335,958,005.2 | 1 000 | 207,125,103.56255 | 1.0 × 10-9 | 198,838,781,515.95 | 44 994 375 703 037 | 1 | 9,842,519,685,039.4 |
| 0.1333333 | 1.016 × 10-10 | 2.1043910521955 × 10-5 | 1.016 × 10-22 | 0.0202020 | 4.5714286 | 1.016 × 10-13 | 1 |
| Symbol | Definition |
|---|---|
| ≡ | exactly equal |
| ≈ | approximately equal to |
| = | equal to |
| digits | indicates that digits repeat infinitely (e.g. 8.294 369 corresponds to 8.294 369 369 369 369 …) |
| 1 sticks | = 0.0508 meters |
| 1.5 sticks | = 0.0762 meters |
| 2 sticks | = 0.1016 meters |
| 2.5 sticks | = 0.127 meters |
| 3 sticks | = 0.1524 meters |