搩ちゃく手しゅ

noun

handspan between thumb and middle finger

Archaic Buddhist term for a unit of length: the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the middle finger when the hand is fully extended. Not used in modern Japanese outside historical or religious contexts.

• 仏ぶっ典てんでは、搩ちゃく手しゅは長ながさの単たん位いとして使つかわれていた。

  In Buddhist scriptures, 搩手 was used as a unit of length.