handspan

Not really as there are not many situations when you would need to talk about your handspan. People understand it ok though.

Thank you very much, nona.

The definition I've found is a bit strange:
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handspan

Function: noun
: a distance equal to or an area equivalent in its circumference to a span<a handspan waist>


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This seem more clear:

Spanish term or phrase:

Hi Itasan,

You asked:

'handspan'
I have read that it is the width of your hand
when all your fingers and thumb are opened.
Is it commonly used?

No, it's not a very common word. It's not found in the British National Corpus, for instance.

Thank you very much, Englishuser and everybody.
True. It seems very rare. Only one example in BNC.
"Now , let them fall over the cloth, Azmaveth said, from a height of two handspans."

I've always said simply "span".

Hi Lewis,

Yes, although then the context has to show it's a hand span. eg could be a bridge span.

There's the famous revolutionary and ribald saying, meaning all men are equal: "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?"Eve wasn't using her hand.

Then what did she spin with?

Hi again,

The verb isn't to spin, it's to span, meaning in this case 'to stretch from side to side'.

When Adam and Eve made their children, they were all equal, all made in the same way.

Best wishes, Clive

Thanks Clive, you've clarified the expression, which I had heard without understanding it. I'll have to look up all the meanings of "delve"... To be honest, I always thought delve meant dig, so while Adam tilled the fields and Eve spun (or span) yarn, in other words, while both worked etc etc. Is your "span" a verb that's the same in past and present?
Perplexed, Lewis