Obsolete Russian Unit Of Measurement

A native system of weights and measures was used in Imperial Russia and after the Russian Revolution, but it was abandoned after 21 July 1925, when the Soviet Union adopted the metric system, per the order of the Council of People's Commissars.

The Tatar system is very similar to the Russian one, but some names are different. The Polish system is also very close to the Russian.

The system existed since ancient Rus', but under Peter the Great, the Russian units were redefined relative to the English system.Шостьин Н. А. Очерки истории русской метрологии XI – начала XX века. М.: 1975. Until Peter the Great the system also used Cyrillic numerals, and only in the 18th century did Peter the Great replace it with the Hindu–Arabic numeral system.

Length

The basic unit was the Russian ell, called the ''arshin'', which came into use in the 16th century. It was standardized by Peter the Great in the 18th century to measure exactly twenty-eight English inches (). Thus, 80 vershoks = 20 piads = 5 arshins = 140 English inches ().

A ''pyad'' (, "palm", "five") or ''chetvert'' (, "quarter") is a hand span, the distance between ends of the spread thumb and index finger.

Alternative units:
* Swung sazhen (, , distance between tips of arms stretched sidewards) = 1.76 m
* Skewed, or oblique sazhen (, , distance between tip of a raised arm and a tip of an opposite leg slightly put away) = 2.48 m
* Double versta or border versta, (, ), used to measure land plots and distances between settlements = 2 verstas (comes from an older standard for versta)

Area

* Desyatina (, "a tenth" or "ten"), approximately one hectare
** Treasury/official desyatina (, ) = 10,925.4 m² = 117,600 sq ft = 2.7 acres = 2,400 square sazhen
** Proprietor's (, ) = 14,567.2 m² = 156,800 sq ft = 3,200 square sazhen
*** 3 proprietor's desyatinas = 4 official desyatinas
* Sokha (, "big plow")

Volume

As in many ancient systems of measurement the Russian distinguishes between dry and liquid measurements of capacity. Note that the ''chetvert'' appears in both lists with vastly differing values.

Dry measures

Liquid measures

Weight/mass

Two systems of weight were in use, an ordinary one in common use, and an apothecaries' system.

Ordinary system

The pood was first mentioned in a number of documents of the twelfth century. It may still be encountered in documents dealing with agricultural production (especially with reference to cereals), and has been revived in determining weights when casting bells in belfries following the rebirth of the Orthodox Churches in the former Soviet lands.

Apothecaries' system

The Imperial Russian apothecaries' weight was defined by setting the grain (russian: гран) to be exactly seven-fifths of a ''dolya''. The only unit name shared between the two was the ''funt'' (pound), but the one in the apothecaries' system is exactly seven-eighths of the ordinary ''funt''.

Idiomatic expressions

The obsolete units of measurement survived in Russian culture in a number of idiomatic expressions and proverbs, for example:

* : (It) can be heard a verst away – about something very loud
* : 7 versts is not a detour for a mad dog – about excessive energy or hassle
* : 7 verst is not too far for a darling friend
* : Kolomna verst – about a very tall and slim person (in this case the reference is to the verst pole road mark: )
* : A slanted sazhen in the shoulders – about a strong, wide-shouldered person
* : To gauge everybody by the same iterally: one's ownyardstick
* : To swallow an arshin (yardstick) – about standing very straight and still
* : Two vershok above the pot – a very young child
* : a hundred poods – a very large amount. In modern colloquial Russian it is used in a generic meanings of "very much" and "very", as well as "most surely".''English-Russian-English dictionary of slang, jargon and Russian names''. 2012 The adjective and the adverb derive from this expression, although it is more likely a mangled contraction of "100%" (stoprocentny).
* : Seven pyad across the forehead – very smart
* : Not seven pyad across the forehead – not so smart
* : A zolotnik is small, but expensive: when quality rather than quantity is important
* : To walk in 7-mile steps – any kind of very fast progress, e.g., of improvement
* : To learn how much a pound of '' likho'' costs – to experience something bad
* : Do not give up (even) a ''pyad'' of land
* : To eat a 'pood' of salt (with somebody) – to have a long common experience with somebody (with the implication "to know someone well")

See also

* Petrograd Standard

References

External links

Russian system of measures of length (brief description)
by V. A. Belobrov

The role of Peter the Great in the development of Russian system of measures of length
by V. A. Belobrov

{{Systems of measurement

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Russian units of measurement
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