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 did Peter the Great replace it with the Hindu-Arabic numeral system.
The basic unit is the Russian cubit, called the 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 (71.12 cm). Thus, 80 vershoks = 20 piads = 5 arshins = 140 English inches (355.60 cm).
A piad (пядь, “palm”, “five”) or chetvert (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
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)
Desiatina (desyatina : десяти́на, “a tenth” or “ten”), approximately one hectare
Treasury/official desiatina казённая десяти́на, kazionnaya desiatina) = 10,925.4 m² = 117,600 ft² = 2.7 acres = 2,400 square sazhen
Proprietor's (владе́льческая десяти́на, vladelcheskaya desiatina) = 14,567.2 m² = 156,800 ft² = 3,200 square sazhen
3 proprietor's desiatinas = 4 official desiatinas
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.
Two systems of weight were in use, an ordinary one in common use, and an apothecaries' 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. It is also popular in the modern fitness industry of the 21st century, as the pood is used when referencing the weight of a kettlebell, a Russian invention, especially in CrossFit.
The Imperial Russian apothecaries' weight was defined by setting the grain (Russian: гран) to be exactly seven-fifths of a dolia. 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.
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
Милому дружку семь вёрст не околица: 7 verst 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: Skew 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. - Very young kid
Сто пудов. - Hundred poods - 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, although it is more likely a mangled contraction of "100%" (stoprocentny).
Семь пядей во лбу. Seven 'pyad' across the forehead - very smart
Не семь 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")
