Historical Russian units of measurement

Historical Russian units of measurement were standardized and used in the Russian Empire but were abandoned in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) after 1918, and officially replaced on 21 July 1925, when the Soviet Union adopted the metric system.

History Before the reign of Peter the Great (1682–1725), Russia had its own traditional systems of measurement. From the 12th to 15th centuries, during the period of political fragmentation, Russian systems of measurement were diverse until the emergence of an all-Russian system of measurement.

Although Peter is sometimes believed to have replaced Russian units with English units, in reality, he did not significantly change Russian units. Instead, the Russian units were redefined relative to the English system.Шостьин Н. А. Очерки истории русской метрологии XI – начала XX века. М.: 1975. He also did not apply Russian units in areas where the Russians had limited experience, such as in shipyards. The system also used Cyrillic numerals until the 18th century, when Peter the Great replaced it with the Hindu–Arabic numeral system.

The metric system was used from 1899 and remained legally optional from 1900 until it was made compulsory in the Russian SFSR in 1918.

Length The basic unit was the Russian ell, called the arshin, which is known in sources from the 16th century. The lokot (elbow) was replaced around this time. The Ivansky lokot, dating to the 11th or 12th century and used in Novgorod, was about 547mm. The arshin was originally the length of a man's arm from the shoulder. It was standardized by Peter the Great in the 18th century to measure exactly twenty-eight English inches (). Thus, 80 vershoks = 20 pyads = 5 arshins = 140 English inches ().

A pyad (, "palm", "five"), known since the 12th century, or chyetvyert (, "quarter") is a hand span, the distance between ends of the spread thumb and index finger.

Unit Ratio Metricvalue English value Source Russian Translation Cyrillic Transliteration tochka point 0.254 mm inch liniya line 2.54 mm inch; cf. line (перст) dyuym (pyerst) inch (finger) 2.54 cm 1 inch vyershok tip, top 4.445 cm in ladon' palm 7.62 cm ; cf. palm , pyad', chyetvyert' quarter 17.78 cm 7 in; cf. span fut foot 30.48 cm 1 ft lokot' elbow, ell/cubit 45.72 cm ; cf. cubit/ell shag stride, step 1 71.12 cm cf. step arshin yard ft , sazhen' fathom 3 2.1336 m 7 ft vyersta turn (of a plough) 1500 1.0668 km 3,500 ft

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 / 2.4892 m to be exact, since 1 kosaya sazhen' is equal to 3.5 arshins which is equal to 98 inches; Double vyersta or border vyersta, (, ), used to measure land plots and distances between settlements = 2 vyerstas (comes from an older standard for vyersta).

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"), major unit for land tax calculation.

Volume

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

Dry measures Unit Russian Translation Ratio Cubicinches(exact) Metricvalue Imperialvalue U.S.customary Source chast' part 109.33 ml 4.380 fl oz 4.208 fl oz kruzhka mug 80 1.312 L 2.309 pints 2.773 pints garnyec pot 1 200 3.279842 L 5.772 pints 3.466 quarts vyedro bucket 4 800 13.12 L 2.886 gal 3.466 gal chyetvyerik small quarter 8 1,600 26.239 L 2.886 pecks 2.978 pecks os'mina one-eighth 32 6,400 104.955 L 2.886 bushels 2.978 bushels chyetvyert' quarter 64 12,800 209.91 L 5.772 bushels 5.957 bushels

Liquid measures

Unit Russian Translation Ratio Cubicinches(exact) Metricvalue Imperial U.S.Customary Source shkalik measure 61.5 ml 2.16 fl oz 2.08 fl oz kosushka shot charka wine glass 123 ml 4.33 fl oz 4.16 fl oz chetushka pair charka 15 246 ml 8.66 fl oz 8.32 fl oz butylka (vodochnaya) () bottle (vodka) 615 ml 1.08 pints 1.3 pints butylka (vinnaya) () bottle (wine) 768.7 ml 1.35 pints 1.625 pints kruzhka mug 75 1.23 L 2.16 pints 1.3 quarts shtof flagon chyetvyert quarter 1.537 L 2.70 pints 1.624 quarts vedro bucket 1 750 12.29941 L 2.71 gal 3.249 gal bochka 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 Source dolya part, portion = 44.435 mg 0.686 gr zolotnik "golden one" 4.26580 g 65.831 gr (0.152 oz) lot borrowed German "Loth" 12.7974 g 0.451 oz funt pound 1 409.51718 g 14.445 oz (0.903 lb) pood borrowed Late Latin "pondo", from Classical "pondus" 40 16.3807 kg 36.121 lb probably from "Birka pood" 400 163.807 kg 361.206 lb (25.8 stone)

The pood was first mentioned in documents in the 12th 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 () 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 grain 1 62.210 mg 0.96004 gr 1.4 scruple 20 1.2442 g 19.201 gr 28 dram 60 3.7326 g 57.602 gr ounce 480 29.861 g 1.0533 oz or 460.82 gr 7 pound 5760 358.328 g 12.640 oz or 5529.8 gr 84

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, usually ironical : 7 versts 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 [literally: one's own] yardstick : 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. : 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")

Historical Russian units of measurement

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