Stick (unit)

The stick may refer to several separate units, depending on the item being measured.

Length

In typography, the stick, stickful,^[1][2] or stick of type^[3] 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.^[3] In France, Spain, and Italy, sticks generally contained only between 1 and 4 lines of text each.^[2] A column was notionally equal to 10 sticks.^[4][5]

Mass

In American cooking, a stick of butter is taken to be 4 ounces^[6] (about 113 g).^[7] In Australian cooking, a stick of butter is a larger unit of 250 g (about 9 ounces).^[7]

Volume

In American cooking, a stick of butter may also be understood as ½ cup or 8 tablespoons^[6] (about 125 mL).^[7]

See also

• English, imperial, and US customary units
• Traditional point-size names

References

Citations

Bibliography

• "stick, n.¹", Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1916 .
• Bloom, Carole (2007), The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and Other Ingredients, Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons .
• Natasha (2015), "Baking Conversions", Butter Baking: A Blog of Baked Goods, retrieved 30 April 2015 .
• Campbell-Copeland, Thomas (1893), The Ladder of Journalism: How to Climb It, New York: Gibb Bros & Morgan for Allan Forman .
• Jackson, Hartley Everett (1937), 26 Lead Soldiers: Printing Types, Methods, Machines, Redwood City: Stanford University Press .
• Pasko, Wesley Washington (1894), "Stickful", American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking: Containing a History of These Arts in Europe and America, with Definitions of Technical Terms and Biographical Sketches, New York: Howard Lockwood & Co., p. 529 .
• Williamson, Richard (1984), "Glossary", Journalist 3&2, Vol. 1, Naval Education & Training Program Development Center .