Rule of thumb is a procedure based on experience and common sense. It can also be used to refer to a general principle regarded as roughly correct but not intended to be scientifically accurate.
The term rule of thumb or similar exists in many languages and cultures. Its likely origin is that the thumb is often used for rough measurement by carpenters, seamstresses and many others.
A widely spread myth holds that the term originally referred to the maximum size of a stick with which it was permissible for a man to beat his wife. This myth has been thoroughly debunked, for instance by Christina Hoff Sommers in her book Who stole feminism? (1994). The myth is thought to have been invented by Del Martin of the NOW in 1976 and continues to be spread to this day.
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