Editing Cable length (section)

==Etymology and origin==
The modern word ''cable'' is directly descended from the Middle English ''cable'', ''cabel'' or ''kabel'' and also occurs in Middle Dutch and Middle German.  Ultimately the word comes from Romanic, probably from a cattle halter.{{sfn|OED-cable}} A cable in this usage cable is a thick [[rope]] or by transference a chain cable.{{sfn|OED-cable}}  The OED gives quotations from {{circa|1400}} onwards.  A cable's length (often "cable length" or just "cable") is simply the standard length in which cables came, which by 1555 had settled to around {{convert|100|fathom}} or {{convert|1/10|nmi}}.{{sfn|OED-cable}}

Traditionally rope is made on long [[ropewalk]]s, the length of which determines the maximum length of rope it is possible to make.  As rope is "closed" (the final stage in manufacture) the length reduces, thus the ropewalk at [[Chatham Dockyard]] is {{convert|1/4|mi}} long in order to produce standard {{convert|220|m|fathom}} coils.{{sfn|Master Ropemakers Ltd|2023}}