Obsolete Russian units of measurement
A native system of weights and measures was used in Imperial Russia and after the Russian Revolution, but it was abandoned in 1924 when the Soviet Union adopted the metric system.
The Tatar system is very similar to the Russian one, but some names are different.
The system existed since ancient Rus', but under Peter the Great, the Russian units were redefined relative to the English system. Until Peter the Great the system also used Cyrillic numerals, and only in the 18th century Peter the Great replaced it with the Hindu-Arabic numeral system.
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[edit] Length
The basic unit is the Russian cubit, called arshin, which has been in use since the 16th century. It was standardized by Peter the Great in the 18th century to measure exactly twenty-eight English inches (71.1 cm). Thus, 80 vershoks = 20 piads = 5 arshins = 140 English inches.[1]
A piad (пядь, “palm”, “five”) or chetvert (че́тверть, “quarter”) is a hand span, the distance between ends of the spread thumb and index finger.
| Unit | Russian | Translation | Ratio | Metric Value |
English units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tochka | то́чка | point | 1/2800 | 0.254 mm | 1/100 inch |
| liniya | ли́ния | line | 1/280 | 2.54 mm | 1/10 inch; cf. line |
| diuym | дюйм | inch | 1/28 | 2.54 cm | 1 inch |
| vershok | вершо́к | “tip” or “top” | 1/16 | 4.445 cm | 1 ¾ in; cf. 19" rack unit |
| piad, chetvert | пядь, че́тверть | “palm”, quarter | 1/4 | 17.78 cm | 7 in; cf. span |
| fut | фут | foot | 3/7 | 30.48 cm | 1 ft |
| arshin | арши́н | yard | 1 | 71.12 cm | 2 ⅓ ft |
| sazhen | са́жень | fathom | 3 | 2.1336 m | 7 ft |
| versta | верста́ | turn (of a plough) | 1500 | 1.0668 km | 3,500 ft |
| milia | ми́ля | mile | 10,500 | 7.4676 km | 24,500 ft |
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
- Double versta or border versta, (межевая верста, mezhevaya versta), used to measure land plots and distances between settlements = 2 verstas (comes from an older standard for versta)
[edit] Area
- Desiatina (десяти́на, “a tenth” or “ten”)
- Treasury/official desiatina (казённая десяти́на, kazionnaya desiatina) = 10,925.4 m² = 117,600 sq ft = 2,400 square sazhen
- Proprietor's (владе́льческая десяти́на, vladelcheskaya desiatina) = 14,567.2 m² = 156,800 sq ft = 3,200 square sazhen
- 3 proprietor's desiatinas = 4 official desiatinas
[edit] 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.
[edit] Dry measures
| Unit | Russian | Translation | Ratio | Metric value | Imperial value | US Customary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| chast | часть | part | 1/30 | 109.33 cm3 | 0.219 pt | 0.263 pt |
| kruzhka | кру́жка | mug | 2/5 | 1.312 L | 2.309 pt | 2.773 pt |
| garnets[1] | га́рнец | pot | 1 | 3.279842 L | 2.886 qt | 3.466 qt |
| vedro | ведро́ | bucket | 4 | 13.12 L | 2.886 gal. | 3.466 gal. |
| chetverik | четвери́к | quarter | 8 | 26.239 L | 2.886 p. | 2.978 p. |
| osmina | осьми́на | one-eighth | 32 | 104.955 L | 2.886 bsh. | 2.978 bsh. |
| chetvert | че́тверть | quarter | 64 | 209.91 L | 5.772 bsh. | 5.957 bsh. |
[edit] Liquid measures
| Unit | Russian | Translation | Ratio | Metric value | Imperial | US Customary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| shkalik, kosushka | шка́лик, косу́шка | measure, shot | 1/200 | 61.5 mL | 2.16 fl. oz. | 2.08 fl. oz. |
| charka | ча́рка | a wine glass | 1/100 | 123 mL | 4.33 fl. oz. | 4.16 fl. oz. |
| butylka (vodochnaya) | буты́лка (во́дочная) | bottle (vodka) | 1/20 | 615 mL | 21.64 fl. oz. (1.08 pt) | 20.796 fl. oz. (1.3 pt) |
| butylka (vinnaya) | буты́лка (ви́нная) | bottle (wine) | 1/16 | 768.7 mL | 1.35 pt | 1.625 pt |
| kruzhka | кру́жка | mug | 1/10 | 1.23 L | 2.16 pt (1.08 qt) | 2.6 pt (1.3 qt) |
| shtof | штоф | flagon | 1/10 | 1.23 L | 2.16 pt (1.08 qt) | 2.6 pt (1.3 qt) |
| chetvert | че́тверть | quarter | 1/8 | 1.537 L | 1.35 qt | 1.624 qt |
| vedro[1] | ведро́ | bucket | 1 | 12.29941 L | 10.821 qt (2.71 gal.) | 12.997 qt (3.249 gal.) |
| bochka | бо́чка | barrel | 40 | 491.98 L | 108.22 gal. | 129.967 gal. |
[edit] Weight/mass
| Unit | Russian | Translation | Ratio | Metric value | Imperial and US Customary value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dolia | до́ля | part | 1/9216 = 1/962 | 44.435 mg | 0.686 gr |
| zolotnik | золотни́к | “golden one” | 1/96 | 4.26580 g | 65.831 gr (0.152 oz) |
| lot | лот | 1/32 | 12.7974 g | 0.451 oz | |
| funt[1] | фунт | pound | 1 | 409.51718 g | 14.445 oz (0.903 lb) |
| pood | пуд | 40 | 16.3807 kg | 36.121 lb | |
| berkovets | берковец | 400 | 163.807 kg | 361.206 lb (25.8 st) |
The pood was used in Russia, Finland, Belarus and Ukraine. 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.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Cardarelli, F. (2004). Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures: Their SI Equivalences and Origins (2nd ed.). Springer. pp. 121–124. ISBN 1-85233-682-X.
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