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Furlong Has Old English Roots
Furlong is an English original that can be traced back to Old English furlang, a combination of the noun furh (“furrow”) and the adjective lang (“long”). Though now standardized as a length of 220 yards (or 1/8th of a mile), the furlong was originally defined less precisely as the length of a furrow—a trench in the earth made by a plow—in a cultivated field. This length was equal to the long side of an acre—an area originally defined as the amount of arable land that could be plowed by a yoke of oxen in a day, but later standardized as an area measuring 220 yards (one furlong) by 22 yards, and now defined as any area measuring 4,840 square yards. In contemporary usage, furlong is often encountered in references to horse racing.
Examples of furlong in a Sentence
Jay Posner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Aug. 2025
The 10-furlong test will see the return of reigning Classic winner Sierra Leone, but several rivals appear capable of spoiling the party.
—Jared Welch, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
Both were at a much shorter distance than the Derby’s 10 furlongs, but that’s still a factor worth considering.
—Teresa Genaro, New York Times, 2 May 2025
The big races start about 3:30 p.m. with the $750,000 John Henry Turf Championship going 1 ¼ miles, followed by the $750,000 Eddie D Stakes for horses going about 6 ½ furlongs on the downhill turf course.
—John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for furlong
Cite this Entry
“Furlong.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/furlong. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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furlong
noun
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