A native system of weights and measures was used in

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...

and after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

, but it was abandoned after 21 July 1925, when the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

adopted the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the definition of the Intern ...

, per the order of the

Council of People's Commissars The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

. 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

ancient Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

, but under

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

, 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 and East Slavic peoples. The system was used i ...

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

Hindu–Arabic numeral system The Hindu–Arabic numeral system or Indo-Arabic numeral system Audun HolmeGeometry: Our Cultural Heritage 2000 (also called the Hindu numeral system or Arabic numeral system) is a positional decimal numeral system, and is the most common syste ...

Length

The basic unit was the Russian ell, 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 piads = 5 arshins = 140 English inches (). A ''pyad'' (, "palm", "five") or ''chetvert'' (, "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 mid ...

. 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 * Double versta or border versta, (, ), used to measure land plots and distances between settlements = 2 verstas (comes from an older standard for versta)

Area

Desyatina A dessiatin or desyatina (russian: десятина) is an archaic, rudimentary land measurement used in tsarist Russia. A dessiatin is equal to 2,400 square sazhens and is approximately equivalent to 2.702 English acres or 10,926.512 square metres ...

(, "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), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

** 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")

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

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, Apothek ...

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 (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''.

Idiomatic expressions

The obsolete units of measurement survived in

Russian culture Russian culture (russian: Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and Western influence. Russian writers and ph ...

in a number of

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language ...

atic expressions and

proverb A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbia ...

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 * : 7 verst is not too far for a darling friend * :

Kolomna Kolomna ( rus, Колóмна, p=kɐˈlomnə) is a historical city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka Rivers, (by rail) southeast of Moscow. Population: History Mentioned for the first time in 1177, Ko ...

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, although it is more likely a mangled contraction of "100%" (stoprocentny). * : 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 Likho, liho ( uk, Лихо, be, лі́ха, pl, licho russian: Лихо) is an embodiment of evil fate and misfortune in Slavic mythology, a creature with one eye, often depicted as an old, skinny woman in black (Лихо одноглазое, ...

'' 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 Russian units of measurement History of science and technology in Russia Standards of Russia

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...