Concept
Portuguese units were used in Portugal, Brazil, and other parts of the Portuguese Empire until the adoption of the metric system in the 19th century and have continued in use in certain contexts since. The various systems of weights and measures used in Portugal until the 19th century combine remote Roman influences with medieval influences from northern Europe and Islam. These influences are obvious in the names of the units. The measurement units themselves were, in many cases, inherited from a distant past. From the Romans, Portugal inherited names like palmo (palmus), côvado (cubitus), libra, onça (uncia), moio (modius), quarteiro (quartarius), sesteiro (sextarius). From medieval northern Europe, Portugal inherited names like marco (mark, marc), búzio (bushel, boisseau), tonel (tun, tonneau), pinta (pint, pinte), choupim (Fr. chopine), etc. From the Moors, Portugal receive unit names like arrátel (Arabic: ratl), arroba (Arabic: rub), quintal (Arabic: qintar), alqueire (Arabic: kayl), almude (Arabic: mudd), fanega (Arabic: faniqa), cafiz (Arabic: qafiz), etc. The Roman and northern European influences were more present in the north. The Islamic influence was more present in the south of the country. Fundamental units like the alqueire and the almude were imported by the northwest of Portugal in the 11th century, before the country became independent of León. The gradual long-term process of standardization of weights and measures in Portugal is documented mainly since the mid-14th century. In 1352, municipalities requested standardization in a parliament meeting (Cortes). In response, Afonso IV decided to set the alna (aune) of Lisbon as standard for the linear measures used for color fabrics across the country. A few years later, Pedro I carried a more comprehensive reform, as documented in the parliament meeting of 1361: the arrátel folforinho of Santarém should be used for weighing meat; the arroba of Lisbon would be the standard for the remaining weights; cereals should be measured by the alqueire of Santarém; the almude of Lisbon should be used for wine.
