Historical Russian units of measurement

File:Obsolete Russian units of length - ru.svg

Set of Russian customary units of measurement based on body proportions.

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. 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	Metric value	English value	Source
Russian		Translation
Cyrillic	Transliteration
	toch'ka	point	1⁄2800	0.254 mm	1⁄100 inch
	liniya	line	1⁄280	2.54 mm	1⁄10 inch; cf. line
(перст)	dyuym (pyerst)	inch (finger)	1⁄28	2.54 cm	1 inch
	vyershok	tip, top	1⁄16	4.445 cm	1+3⁄4 in; cf. 19" rack unit
	ladon'	palm	3⁄28	7.62 cm	; cf. palm
,	pyad', chyetvyert'	quarter	1⁄4	17.78 cm	7 in; cf. span
	fut	foot	3⁄7	30.48 cm	1 ft
	lokot'	elbow, ell/cubit	9⁄14	45.72 cm	; cf. cubit/ell
	shag	stride, step	1	71.12 cm	cf. step
	arshin	yard			2+1⁄3 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

File:Volume units - Russia, 18c - Uglich museum.jpg

Dry volume measures: os'mina, poluos'mina, chyetvyerik, poluchyetvyerik

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	Cubic inches (exact)	Metric value	Imperial value	U.S. customary	Source
chast'		part	1⁄30	6+2⁄3	109.33 ml	4.380 fl oz	4.208 fl oz
kruzhka		mug	2⁄5	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	Cubic inches (exact)	Metric value	Imperial	U.S. Customary	Source
shkalik		measure	1⁄200	3+3⁄4	61.5 ml	2.16 fl oz	2.08 fl oz
kosushka		shot
charka		wine glass	1⁄100	7+1⁄2	123 ml	4.33 fl oz	4.16 fl oz
butylka (vodochnaya)	()	bottle (vodka)	1⁄20	37+1⁄2	615 ml	1.08 pints	1.3 pints
butylka (vinnaya)	()	bottle (wine)	1⁄16	46+7⁄8	768.7 ml	1.35 pints	1.625 pints
kruzhka		mug	1⁄10	75	1.23 L	2.16 pints	1.3 quarts
shtof		flagon
chyetvyert		quarter	1⁄8	93+3⁄4	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	1⁄9216 = 1⁄962	44.435 mg	0.686 gr
zolotnik		"golden one"	1⁄96	4.26580 g	65.831 gr (0.152 oz)
lot		borrowed German "Loth"	1⁄32	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
Template:Ill		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 (Template:Langx) 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	7⁄8
		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". 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")

See also

• Petrograd Standard

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