spinel

noun

Etymology: From Middle English spinel, from Old English spinel (“spindle; the amount of yard on a spindle”), whence also the usual modern form, English spindle.

1. Spindle; the amount of yarn that fits on a spindle.

   “[…] raised the price of that staple of yarn (of one Spinel in the pound weight) from 23d. to 26d. per Spinel.”

   “339, 612 yards of dimities, muslinets, jaconets, and booked muslins, from rod. to 20s. per yard, and, 4000. spinels of thread and yarn, were bleached by him in 1791, and 45 people were employed in the work.”