WONDROUS WORDS – Quire & Ream
This week’s words come from the the story Lord Chizelrigg’s Missing Fortune by Robert Barr, published in 1906. It’s in the anthology A Body in the Library edited by Rex Collings, published 1991.
“I take it a thousand sheets were supplied, although of course it may have been a thousand quires, which would be a little more reasonable for the price charged, or a thousand reams, which would be exceedingly cheap.”
As book-lovers you are no doubt familair with these words, as I am. But I must admit that, if pressed, I couldn’t have defined them accurately. And I love the etymology of these words.
Quire: a set of 24 or 25 sheets of paper of the same size and stock, the twentieth part of a ream.
The word quire originated from Old French: quaer, a book of loose pages, which can be traced to the Vulgar Latin quaternum, paper packed in lots of four pages.
Ream: a quantity of paper varying from 480 sheets (20 quires) to 516 sheets.
Ream can be traced to the Arabic: rizma: a bale or packet.
Do you have any other “book words” to share?
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. It’s hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion. Hop on over and see what wondrous words other bloggers have discovered this week.
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Those are two great new words. I’m always amazed by words used in measurement. I think it started with my marriage to a man with the last name of peck – as in a bushel and a peck. They are now both obsolete measurements too.
Margot, I remember reciting in school “2 pints in a quart, 4 quarts in a gallon, 2 gallons in a peck, 4 pecks in a bushel”. My OCDish mind always loved classifying measurements too!
It’s so interesting that a quire can be 24 or 25 sheets of paper. It’s sort of precise but not really.
Exactly, Kathy, and I wasn’t able to find out why that is.
Perhaps, in the past, someone wanted to match it up with the decimal based number system, and divided 100 by 4. ???
Hi Debbie,
Like yourself, these are both words I know about, although I didn’t really know the exact quantities in a ream or a quire.
It is still rather confusing and vague that a quire can be either 24 or 25 sheets and a ream 480 to 516 sheets. Surely it is much easier when packing and wrapping, to have uniform units ? 🙂
I couldn’t find out much about the book your words come from, although I have to admit that I seldom read short stories anyway.
I hope that you enjoyed reading ‘A Body In The Library’ and thanks for sharing your words 🙂
Yvonne
I agree it’s confusing, Yvonne. Perhaps in business, there is an agreed upon amount that is standard within an industry or a country?
I’ve heard these words but I had no idea what they meant.
I had to look them up when I came across them, Deb.