Historical Russian units of measurement

[1] The basic unit was the Russian ell, called the arshin, which came into use in the 16th century.

It was standardized by Peter the Great in the 18th century to measure exactly twenty-eight English inches (71.12 cm).

[2] A pyad' (пядь, "palm", "five") or chyetvyert' (че́тверть, "quarter") is a hand span, the distance between ends of the spread thumb and index finger.

[citation needed] 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.

The obsolete units of measurement survived in Russian culture in a number of idiomatic expressions and proverbs, for example:

Set of Russian customary units of measurement based on body proportions.