A hand span (span) is the distance measured my a human hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the pinky (little finger). 1 span = 9 inches or 0.2286 meters.
It was made in Ancient Greece. Other country's used it like people who spoke Arabic, Slavic, African, Hungarian, Asian, Mongolian, and Portuguese.
There was a Great Span and a Little Span. The Great Span was from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the pinky (little finger). The Little Span was from the tip of the pointer finger (index finger) to the tip of the pinky (little finger).