Obsolete Russian units of measurement
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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 (which was influenced by the English system), but some names are different.
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[edit] Length
The basic unit is the Russian cubit, called arshin, measuring exactly twenty-eight English inches, as standardised by Peter the Great. Thus, 80 vershok = 20 pyad = 5 arshin = 140 English inches.
A pyad or chetvert (че́тверть, “quarter”) is a hand span, the distance between ends of the spread thumb and index finger.
| Unit | Cyrillic | Ratio | Metres | English units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tochka | точка | 1/2800 | 0.000254 | 1/10 line |
| liniya | линия | 1/280 | 0.002540 | 1 line |
| dyuym | дюйм | 1/28 | 0.025400 | 1 in |
| vershok | вершо́к | 1/16 | 0.044450 | 1¾ in |
| pyad | пядь | 1/4 | 0.17780 | 7 in |
| fut | фут | 3/7 | 0.30480 | 1 ft |
| arshin | арши́н | 1 | 0.71120 | 2⅓ ft |
| sazhen | са́жень | 3 | 2.13360 | 7 ft |
| versta | верста́ | 1500 | 1,066.8 | 3,500 ft |
| milya | миля | 10500 | 7,467.6 | 24,500 ft |
Alternative units:
- Swung sazhen (махова́я са́жень, makhovaya sazhen’) = 1.76 m
- Skewed, or oblique sazhen (коса́́я са́́жень, kosaya sazhen’) = 2.48 m
- Double versta or border versta, (межева́я верста́, mezhevaya versta), used to measure land plots and distances between settlements
[edit] Area
- Desyatina (десяти́на)
- State desyatina (казённая десяти́на, kazyonnaya desyatina) = 10,9254 m² = 117,600 ft² = 2,400 square sazhen
- Proprietor (владе́льческая десяти́на, vladelcheskaya desyatina) = 14,5672 m² = 156,800 ft² = 3,200 square sazhen
- 3 proprietors = 4 state desyatinas
[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 differing values.
[edit] Dry measures
- Garnets (га́рнец) = 3.28 litres
- Chetverik (четвери́к) = 26.24 litres = 8 garnetses
- Osmina (осьми́на) = 104.95 litres = 4 chetveriks
- Chetvert (че́тверть, “quarter”) = 209.91 litres = 2 osminas
[edit] Liquid measures
- Shkalik (шка́лик) or kosushka (косу́шка, a small vodka glass) = 61.5 mL
- Charka (ча́рка, a wine glass) = 123 mL = 2 shkaliks
- Butylka (буты́лка, “bottle“)
- vodochnaya (во́дочная, “vodka bottle”) = 624 mL = 1/20 vedro = 5 charkas
- vinnaya (винная, “wine bottle”)
- Shtof (штоф, from the Prussian Stof) = 1.23 litres = 2 butylkas = 10 charkas = 1/10 vedro
- Chetvert (че́тверть, 'quarter') = 3.08 litres = 25 charkas = 1/4 vedro
- Vedro (ведро́, “bucket”) = 12.3 litres = 100 charkas
- Bochka (бо́чка, “barrel”) = 491.96 litres = 40 vedros
Note: The liquid measures were such because of Vodka monopoly in Imperial Russia.
[edit] Weight
- Dolya (доля) = 44.435 mg
- Zolotnik (золотник) = 96 dolya = 4.26575 g
- Lot (лот) = 3 zolotnik = 12.797 g
- Funt (фунт, “pound”) = 32 lot = 409.5124 g
- Pood (пуд, pud) = 40 funt = 16.3805 kg
- Berkovets (берковец) = 10 pood = 163.805 kg
The pood was used in Russia, 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] Trivia
The vershok is — coincidentally — equivalent to the modern day "rack unit" used in describing the height of standardized rack-mounted devices such as those used in the broadcasting, computing, entertainment and telecommunications industries.
