Obsolete Russian units 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.[citation needed] 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.[1] 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.[1]
Length
The basic unit is the Russian ell, called the arshin, which has been in use since the 16th century. It was standardized by Peter the Great in the 18th century to measure exactly twenty-eight English inches (71.12 cm). Thus, 80 vershoks = 20 piads = 5 arshins = 140 English inches (355.60 cm).[2]
A pyad (пядь, "palm", "five") or chetvert (че́тверть, "quarter") is a hand span, the distance between ends of the spread thumb and index finger.
| Unit | Ratio | Metric value |
English value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russian | Translation | ||||
| Cyrillic | Transliteration | ||||
| то́чка | tochka | point | 1⁄2800 | 0.254 mm | 1⁄100 inch |
| ли́ния | liniya | line | 1⁄280 | 2.54 mm | 1⁄10 inch; cf. line |
| дюйм (перст) | dyuym | inch (finger) | 1⁄28 | 2.54 cm | 1 inch |
| вершо́к | vershok | tip, top | 1⁄16 | 4.445 cm | 1 3⁄4 in; cf. 19" rack unit |
| ладонь | ladon | palm | 7.5 cm | 2 15⁄16 in; cf. palm | |
| пядь, че́тверть | pyad, chetvert | quarter | 1⁄4 | 17.78 cm | 7 in; cf. span |
| фут | fut | foot | 3⁄7 | 30.48 cm | 1 ft |
| локоть | lokot | elbow | 45 cm | 1 1⁄2 ft; cf. cubit/ell | |
| шаг | shag | stride | ~71 cm | cf. step | |
| арши́н | arshin | yard | 1 | 71.12 cm | 2 1⁄3 ft |
| саже́нь, са́жень | sazhen | fathom | 3 | 2.1336 m | 7 ft |
| верста́ | versta | turn (of a plough) | 1500 | 1.0668 km | 3,500 ft |
| ми́ля | milya | mile | 10,500 | 7.4676 km | 24,500 ft |
Alternative units:
- Swung sazhen (маховая сажень, makhovaya sazhen', distance between tips of arms stretched sidewards) = 1.76 m
- Skewed, or oblique sazhen (косая сажень, kosaya 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, (межевая верста, mezhevaya versta), used to measure land plots and distances between settlements = 2 verstas (comes from an older standard for versta)
Area
- Desyatina (десяти́на, "a tenth" or "ten"), approximately one hectare
- Treasury/official desyatina (казённая десяти́на, kazionnaya desyatina) = 10,925.4 m2 = 117,600 sq ft = 2.7 acres = 2,400 square sazhen
- Proprietor's (владе́льческая десяти́на, vladelcheskaya desyatina) = 14,567.2 m2 = 156,800 sq ft = 3,200 square sazhen
- 3 proprietor's desyatinas = 4 official desyatinas
- Sokha (Соха, "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
| Unit | Russian | Translation | Ratio | Cubic inches (exact) |
Metric value |
Imperial value |
U.S. customary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| chast | часть | part | 1⁄30 | 6 2⁄3 | 109.33 ml | 4.380 fl oz | 4.208 fl oz |
| kruzhka | кру́жка | mug | 2⁄5 | 80 | 1.312 L | 2.309 pints | 2.773 pints |
| garnets[2] | га́рнец | pot | 1 | 200 | 3.279842 L | 5.772 pints | 3.466 quarts |
| vedro | ведро́ | bucket | 4 | 800 | 13.12 L | 2.886 gal | 3.466 gal |
| chetverik | четвери́к | quarter | 8 | 1,600 | 26.239 L | 2.886 pecks | 2.978 pecks |
| osmina | осьми́на | one-eighth | 32 | 6,400 | 104.955 L | 2.886 bushels | 2.978 bushels |
| chetvert | че́тверть | quarter | 64 | 12,800 | 209.91 L | 5.772 bushels | 5.957 bushels |
Liquid measures
| Unit | Russian | Translation | Ratio | Cubic inches (exact) |
Metric value |
Imperial | U.S. Customary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| shkalik | шка́лик | measure | 1⁄200 | 3 3⁄4 | 61.5 ml | 2.16 fl oz | 2.08 fl oz |
| kosushka | косу́шка | shot | |||||
| charka | ча́рка | wine glass | 1⁄100 | 7 1⁄2 | 123 ml | 4.33 fl oz | 4.16 fl oz |
| butylka (vodochnaya) | буты́лка (во́дочная) | bottle (vodka) | 1⁄20 | 37 1⁄2 | 615 ml | 1.08 pints | 1.3 pints |
| butylka (vinnaya) | буты́лка (ви́нная) | bottle (wine) | 1⁄16 | 46 7⁄8 | 768.7 ml | 1.35 pints | 1.625 pints |
| kruzhka | кру́жка | mug | 1⁄10 | 75 | 1.23 L | 2.16 pints | 1.3 quarts |
| shtof | штоф | flagon | |||||
| chetvert | че́тверть | quarter | 1⁄8 | 93 3⁄4 | 1.537 L | 2.70 pints | 1.624 quarts |
| vedro[2] | ведро́ | bucket | 1 | 750 | 12.29941 L | 2.71 gal | 3.249 gal |
| bochka | бо́чка | barrel | 40 | 30,000 | 491.98 L | 108.22 gal | 129.967 gal |
Weight/mass
Two systems of weight were in use, an ordinary one in common use, and an apothecaries' system.
Ordinary system
| Unit | Russian | Translation | Ratio | Metric value | Avoirdupois value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dolya | до́ля | part | 1⁄9216 = 1⁄962 | 44.435 mg | 0.686 gr |
| zolotnik | золотни́к | "golden one" | 1⁄96 | 4.26580 g | 65.831 gr (0.152 oz) |
| lot | лот | 1⁄32 | 12.7974 g | 0.451 oz | |
| funt[2] | фунт | pound | 1 | 409.51718 g | 14.445 oz (0.903 lb) |
| pood | пуд | 40 | 16.3807 kg | 36.121 lb | |
| berkovets | берковец | 400 | 163.807 kg | 361.206 lb (25.8 stone) |
The pood was first mentioned in a number of documents of the twelfth century.[citation needed] 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.
| Unit | Russian | Translation | Ratio | Metric value | Avoirdupois value | Ordinary value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gran | гран | grain | 1 | 62.210 mg | 0.96004 gr | 1.4 dolya |
| scrupul | скрупул | scruple | 20 | 1.2442 g | 19.201 gr | 28 dolya |
| drakhma | драхма | dram | 60 | 3.7326 g | 57.602 gr | 7⁄8 zolotnik |
| untsiya | унция | ounce | 480 | 29.861 g | 1.0533 oz or 460.82 gr | 7 zolotnik |
| funt | фунт | pound | 5760 | 358.328 g | 12.640 oz or 5529.8 gr | 84 zolotnik |
Idiomatic expressions
The obsolete units of measurement survived in Russian culture in a number of idiomatic expressions and proverbs, for example:
- Слышно за версту: (It) can be heard a verst away – about something very loud
- Бешеной собаке семь вёрст не крюк: 7 versts is not a detour for a mad dog – about excessive energy or hassle
- Милому дружку семь вёрст не околица: 7 verst is not too far for a darling friend
- Верста коломенская: Kolomna verst – about a very tall and slim person (in this case the reference is to the verst pole road mark: verstovoy stolb)
- Косая сажень в плечах: A slanted sazhen in the shoulders – about a strong, wide-shouldered person
- Мерить всех на свой аршин: To gauge everybody by the same [literally: one's own] yardstick
- Проглотить аршин: To swallow an arshin (yardstick) – about standing very straight and still
- От горшка два вершка: Two vershok above the pot – a very young child
- Сто пудов: 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".[3] The adjective stopudovy and the adverb stopudovo derive from this expression, although it is more likely a mangled contraction of "100%" (stoprocentny).
- Семь пядей во лбу: Seven pyad across the forehead – very smart
- Не семь пядей во лбу: Not seven pyad across the forehead – not so smart
- Мал золотник, да до́рог: A zolotnik is small, but expensive: when quality rather than quantity is important
- Идти семимильными шагами: To walk in 7-mile steps – any kind of very fast progress, e.g., of improvement
- Узнать, почём фунт лиха: To learn how much a pound of likho costs – to experience something bad
- Ни пяди земли (не уступить): Do not give up (even) a pyad of land
- Съесть пуд соли (вместе с кем-либо): 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
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Шостьин Н. А. Очерки истории русской метрологии XI – начала XX века. М.: 1975.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Cardarelli, F. (2004). Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures: Their SI Equivalences and Origins (2nd ed.). Springer. pp. 120–124. ISBN 1-85233-682-X. https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofs0000card.
- ↑ English-Russian-English dictionary of slang, jargon and Russian names. 2012
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
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