Historical Russian units of measurement were standardized and used in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, but were abandoned after 21 July 1925, when the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

adopted the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...

. 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

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

, but under

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

, 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 Cyrillic numerals are a numeral system derived from the Cyrillic script, developed in the First Bulgarian Empire in the late 10th century. It was used in the First Bulgarian Empire and by South Slavs, South and East Slavs, East Slavic peoples. ...

, and only in the 18th century did Peter the Great replace it with the

Hindu–Arabic numeral system The Hindu–Arabic numeral system (also known as the Indo-Arabic numeral system, Hindu numeral system, and Arabic numeral system) is a positional notation, positional Decimal, base-ten numeral system for representing integers; its extension t ...

Length

The basic unit was the Russian

ell An ell (from Proto-Germanic *''alinō'', cognate with Latin ''ulna'') is a northwestern European unit of measurement, originally understood as a cubit (the combined length of the forearm and extended hand). The word literally means "arm", an ...

, called the ''arshin'', which came into use in the 16th century. It was standardized by

in the 18th century to measure exactly twenty-eight English inches (). Thus, 80 vershoks = 20 pyad's = 5 arshins = 140 English inches (). A ''pyad (, "palm", "five") or ''chyetvyert' '' (, "quarter") is a hand span, the distance between ends of the spread thumb and

index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the m ...

. 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 dessiatin or desyatina () is an archaic, rudimentary measure of area used in tsarist Russia for land measurement. A dessiatin is equal to 2,400 square sazhens and is approximately equivalent to 2.702 English acres, 10,925 square metres, or 1. ...

(, "a tenth" or "ten"), approximately one

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

** 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 In Eastern Europe a sokha (; ) is a light wooden ard, consisting of two body ards, with their parallel beams forming the two shafts for a single horse-drawn tillage implement with two socket shares (рассоха). In later types the double b ...

(, "big plow")

Volume

As in many ancient systems of measurement the Russian distinguishes between dry and liquid measurements of capacity. Note that the ''chyetvyert' '' 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 The apothecaries' system, or apothecaries' weights and measures, is a historical system of mass and volume units that were used by physicians and apothecaries for medical prescriptions and also sometimes by scientists."Medicinal-Gewicht, Apotheke ...

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 () 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 Russian culture ( rus, Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii, kʊlʲˈturə rɐˈsʲiɪ) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and both Eastern cultu ...

in a number of

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...

atic expressions and

proverb A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phrase ...

s, 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 Kolomna (, ) is a historic types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva River, Moskva and Oka Rivers, (by rail) southeast of Moscow. Population: History Mentioned for the fir ...

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. * : 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")

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

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Russian units of measurement Historical Russian units of measurement were standardized and used in the Russian Empire and after the Russian Revolution, but were abandoned after 21 July 1925, when the Soviet Union adopted the metric system. The Tatar system is very similar t ...

History of science and technology in Russia Standards of Russia

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...