Measurement in Malayalam
Neither candidate here is the general noun for measurement. അടിയളവ് (adiyalavu) is a specific old reckoning, measuring by the length of a foot, including telling the hour from a shadow counted in foot-lengths. ചങ്ങല (changala) is a chain, both the object and the surveyor's chain of twenty-two yards.
A foot measure, measurement of time by foot measurement of shadow.
പണ്ട് നിഴലിന്റെ അടിയളവ് നോക്കി സമയം അറിഞ്ഞിരുന്നു.
pandu nizhalinte adiyalavu nokki samayam arinjirunnu.
In the old days, people told time by the foot-measure of a shadow.
All Malayalam words for “measurement”
- അടിയളവ് (adiyalavu) — A foot measure, measurement of time by foot measurement of shadow.
- ചങ്ങല (changala) — Chain shackles, a measurement of length (22 yards).
Malayalam says measurement in the abstract with a short everyday noun for measure, which is the second element sitting inside അടിയളവ് (adiyalavu); the two entries here are units, not the general idea.
Common questions
How do you say measurement in Malayalam?
Not with either of these. They are particular measures: അടിയളവ് (adiyalavu) is reckoning by the foot and ചങ്ങല (changala) is the surveyor's chain. The general word is the plain noun for measure that forms the tail of അടിയളവ് (adiyalavu).
Why is a chain a measurement?
Because the surveyor's chain of twenty-two yards was the working land measure, so the name of the tool became the name of the length.