▪ I. ‖ mou1
(muː)
Also mow, mu.
[Chinese.]
A Chinese unit of area, varying according to locality but usu. equivalent to about 670 square metres (800 square yards).
| 1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 39/1 A ground-rent of 15,000 cash (about {pstlg}3) per mow (a third of an acre). 1924 Other Lands Jan. 56/2 Having acquired a tract of land on the north bank of thirty to forty thousand mow it has been very successful. 1937 E. Snow Red Star over China ii. 71 Here in Shensi a peasant may own as much as 100 mou of land and yet be a poor man. 1955 Ann. Reg. 1954 305 ‘Of the over 80 million mou of the still flooded farmlands, 30 million mou have not yet been drained.’.. A mou was almost exactly one-sixth of an acre. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XV. 140/2 Mou... Commonly 806.65 sq. yd. Varies locally. Shanghai = 6,600 sq. ft. (Municipal Council). By Customs Treaty = 920.417 sq. yd., based on ch'ih of 14.1 inches. 1973 Times 21 Mar. (China Trade Suppl.) p. xiv/3 Since a mu is one sixth of an acre, and a catty is 1.1 lb. these figures come out at 18 cwt and 24 cwt of unhusked rice an acre. |
▪ II. mou
obs. form of may v.1
▪ III. mou
obs. form of mow n.