Alqueire

Alqueire is a traditional unit of measurement in Portuguese. The term has been documented in Portugal since the 12th century. It is derived from the Arabic word أَكْيَال (al-kayl), which roughly means 'measure'. It was originally used to measure the amount of dry goods (such as grain) a pack animal could carry, in the form of satchels or baskets. In Portugal, the alqueire was used as a measure of capacity and eventually it was used also as a measure of area of productive land. The spread of Portuguese culture took both meanings of the word to different parts of the world.