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length, equal to the average length of a grain of barley; the third part of an inch. John Barleycorn, a humorous personification of barley as the source of malt liquor or whisky.

formerly divided into twelve parts, called lines, and originally into three parts, called barleycorns, its length supposed to have been determined from three grains of barley placed end to end lengthwise. It is also sometimes called a prime ('), composed of twelve seconds ('\'b7), as in the duodecimal system of arithme…