orgyia

ORGYI´A(δργυιά), a Greek measure of length, derived from the human body, was the distance from extremity to extremity of the outstretched arms, whence the name from ὀρέγω. (Xen. Mem. 2.3, 19; Pollux, 2.158.) It was = 6 πόδες or 4 πήχεις, and 1/100 was of the stadium (Hdt. 2.149). It may be expressed nearly enough in English by the word fathom. (Compare MENSURAand the Tables.)