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. 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 (71.12 cm). Thus, 80 vershoks = 20 pyads = 5 arshins = 140 English inches (355.60 cm).

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

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 / 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, (межевая верста, mezhevaya vyersta), used to measure land plots and distances between settlements = 2 vyerstas (comes from an older standard for vyersta).

Area

• Desyatina (десяти́на, "a tenth" or "ten"), approximately one hectare;
  • Treasury/official desyatina (казённая десяти́на, kazyonnaya desyatina) = 10,925.4 m² = 117,600 sq ft = 2.7 acres = 2,400 square sazhen';
  • Proprietor's (владе́льческая десяти́на, vladel'cheskaya desyatina) = 14,567.2 m² = 156,800 sq ft = 3,200 square sazhen';
    • 3 proprietor's desyatinas = 4 official desyatinas;
• Sokha (соха, "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.

Weight/mass

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

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, usually ironical
• Милому дружку семь вёрст не околица: 7 versts 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". The adjective stopudovy and the adverb stopudovo derive from this expression.
• Семи пядей во лбу: Seven pyad across the forehead – very smart
• Не семи 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

• Petrograd Standard

References

Sources

• Gouzévitch, Irina; Gouzévitch, Dmitri (2009). "Introducing mathematics, building an empire: Russia under Peter I". In Robson, Eleanor; Stedall, Jacqueline (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the History of Mathematics. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-921312-2.
• Gyllenbok, Jan (12 April 2018). Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures: Volume 3. Birkhäuser. ISBN 978-3-319-66712-6.
• Treese, Steven A. (17 May 2018). History and Measurement of the Base and Derived Units. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-77577-7.

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