Today we easily calculate distances using a ruler, tape measure and even a laser. A unified measurement system allows you to communicate in the world using a single mathematical language. Everyone knows what a meter or a kilometer is, but what measures of length were used in Rus'? The word “verst” is often found in the works of Russian writers. How much is this translated into a modern measurement system? Reply to this question and this is what this article is about.

In the absence of instruments, measurements were taken using body parts. To answer the question: how much is a mile, you need to get acquainted with other measures.

The length of the phalanx of one of the fingers (index) corresponded to the top (4.4 cm).

Using the palm of your hand, you can measure a span, both small and large. The picture below shows how this happened. The small span was approximately 18 cm, and the large span was 23.

Since the 16th century in Rus', the elbow was used for measurement. They called it the distance from the bend of the elbow to the clenched fist. If the measurement was made with the palm extended, then the end of the middle finger was counted. Therefore, the length was not constant: from 46 to 38 cm.

An arshin is the length of an outstretched arm, which was 71 cm. And to avoid confusion, a wooden ruler with metal tips was made. She was treated like a government yardstick.

One of the most used measures of length was the fathom (from the verb “to sag”). She used the span of her arms and calculated how far a person could reach with them. The distance between divorced different sides hands was more than 213 cm.

But the path was measured using miles. Initially it was called "field". Where did the new name come from?

Origin of the concept

There are two versions of the appearance of the word “verst”:

1. Linguists believe that it is derived from the verb "to twirl." And it is equal to the length of the furrow that the peasant could walk tirelessly before turning the plow.
2. There is also an assumption that the concept is based on “vervsta”, where the sound “v” was gradually reduced in the process colloquial speech. It is close to the concepts of “rope”, “turning” - the dimension of space. Before today we use, for example, the verb “to catch up.” It means to rush to catch up. “Layout” means “layout” means to measure in length.

But still, how much is a mile? To answer this question, let’s figure out what they are.

Milestone

The named measure of length has been mentioned in historical sources since the 11th century. At the same time, mileage was always understood different meanings. Everything depended on how many fathoms it included and what their length was. Today we are guided by the figures determined by the reform of the 18th century.

To understand the verst, let’s turn to the Cathedral Code of 1649. There, their number was indicated by the number 500. But how to convert this into meters and kilometers? Since the size of the fathom itself was constantly changing, the basis is taken from the data after the reform of Peter I, when it was equal to 213.36 cm. And in order to calculate how many meters there are in a verst, it is necessary to multiply the size of the fathom expressed in meters by 500:

• 2.1336 m × 500 = 1066.8 m

Now let’s convert the obtained data into kilometers:

• 1066.8 m = 1.0688 km

Boundary mile

Until the 18th century, there was also a boundary mile in Rus', which allowed a narrow strip to separate one possession from another and determine the distance between settlements. Its name comes from the word "interface" - the border between land plots. The named mile included 1000 fathoms.

And in order to determine how many kilometers there are in a mile this time, you need to do the following actions:

• 2.1336 m × 1000 = 2133.6 m = 2.1336 km

Square mile

To measure area, both sazhen and verst had indicators squared. What are they equal to? A square fathom is 4552 m², and a square verst is 1,138,062.24 m².

"Versta Kolomenskaya"

Everyone has heard the mention of but where did this expression come from? In the old days, special pillars were usually placed along the roads, which, by the way, were called versts. And the most popular route during the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was Moscow - Kolomenskoye. There were pillars along this road giant size. Since then things have happened very tall people call it "Verstaya Kolomenskaya".

, Belarus. One verst is equal to five hundred fathoms or 1,066.781 meters (which corresponds to 3,500 English feet of the early 20th century, which are slightly shorter than the current ones).

1. On Muscovy

The size of the verst changed repeatedly depending on the number of fathoms included in it and the size of the fathom. The Brockhaus and Efron dictionary mentions "old Russian mile" at 656 fathoms and another at 875 fathoms; the more ancient metrological expert knows "an old mile... 700 fathoms [en] of its time, and even older at 1000"(both sources say the same thing, only Brockhaus-Efron translated everything into the later 48-fathom fathoms). In Muscovy, the conclusion of the year established a mileage of 1 thousand fathoms. At the same time, in the 18th century, a track mileage of 500 fathoms began to be used.

2. Conversion table for versts (1,066.781 m) to kilometers

Tens of miles are in the left column, units of miles are in the top line, the result is at the intersection.

See also

Literature

• Small encyclopedic Dictionary. Volume I, issue. 1. St. Petersburg: Brockhaus-Efron Publishing House, 1907 (2nd ed., Revised and additional).
• Ѳ. I. Petrushevsky. General metrology. Part I. St. Petersburg: In the printing house of Eduard Trud, 1849.

How often in texts telling about Russian history, there are units of measurement that are now out of use. One of them is a mile. Sales...

Versta - what is it? How much is verst in kilometers?

From Masterweb

How often in texts telling about Russian history there are units of measurement that are now out of use. One of them is a mile. Even for those who have an idea of ​​​​what was measured in miles, without knowing specific numbers it is not very easy to imagine how large the distance is we're talking about, how far is what is being said, and how to understand allegorical folk expressions with this word, have long outlived its use in direct meaning and currently in use. And I really want to imagine what we are talking about, to evaluate events that happened long ago from a position close to their participants.

Verst as a measure of length

Versta is an old Russian measure of length. Now it is not used, it was used before the introduction of the metric measurement system, which happened in 1924 in the USSR.

Versta was used to determine distances, mainly when indicating the length of the path. That is why such a mile was called a travel mile. In modern units, such a mile is equal to five hundred fathoms.

Along with the track, there was a boundary mile, which was used when measuring the areas of land plots. The boundary mile was twice as large as the track mile and equaled one thousand fathoms.

Verst in relation to measures of length of the metric system

In most countries modern world The metric system of measures was adopted. The most familiar and common units of measurement for large distances in it are kilometers.

How many miles are in one kilometer is easy to remember and imagine - a mile is equal to one kilometer and 66.8 meters. The boundary mile, accordingly, will have twice higher value- 2.1336 kilometers.

It is not often that large distances are measured in small units, but if the need arises to determine how many meters and centimeters are in a mile, it will not be difficult. It is enough to know its ratio to a kilometer and divide the value by 1000 or 100000, depending on the desired final result.

So how many meters are in a mile? This value for the travel mile is 1066.8. In relation to the boundary unit of measurement it will be 2133.6 meters.

When converted to centimeters numeric value miles in kilometers must be multiplied by 100,000 - you get 106,680 centimeters for the track mile and 213,360 for the boundary mile.

Verst in ancient Russian units of measurement

Versta has changed its actual length more than once in history. It ranged from 500 to 1000 fathoms. However, for the track verst, in terms of duration and prevalence of use, the identity of five hundred fathoms prevails, and the boundary line was immediately established as equal to a thousand.

Initially, a fathom was equal to 2 meters 16 centimeters or three arshins, each of which was equal to 72 centimeters or 16 vershoks. During the time of Peter I, the entire Russian system of measures was revised, and the usual units were expressed in terms of multiples of English ones. Then the quantitative content of a fathom also changed - it became equal to 2 meters and 13.36 centimeters.

Solovetskaya verst

Solovetsky monastery, built on the islands of the same name White Sea, is known for many facts and is not only Russian, but also a world cultural and historical heritage protected by UNESCO.

Its name is also associated with a unique measure of length that appeared in this amazing place. The Solovetsky verst is equal to 1 kilometer and 84 meters - these numbers express the length of the walls of the monastery. Distances on the islands where the monastery metochion was located were measured in Solovetsky versts.

Verst and English units of measurement

For those who prefer the English system (now more used in the USA than in the UK), it is more convenient to immediately convert the old mile into familiar units. The most common imperial measures now used to determine the length of distances are miles.

How many miles are in one mile? This value easy to count. The main thing is to know the ratio of mile and kilometer, as well as kilometer and mile.

A mile is 0.6214 km. As for the mile, its value is 1.0668.

The mile will be equal to 0.6214 multiplied by 1.0668 and will be 0.6629 miles.

What else was called verst

A verst was called not only a measure of length, but also the waymark itself, used to designate a section of the path equal to this unit - a post on the side of the road.

Painted black and white in stripes, wooden posts with numbers indicating distance marked miles, like kilometers in later times, and still mark kilometer posts to this day. The numbers written on them correspond to the distance from the original reference point - the “zero kilometer”, often installed at the main post office of the village.

Milestones, or versts, were installed on the most important roads of national importance, often called pillar ones.

Even earlier, a verst was the length of a furrow that a peasant laid while plowing a field. How many kilometers there are in this verst does not matter in this case, the numerical expression is not important, the main thing is that the furrow had to be level and extend across the entire field. That is why the word “verst” was associated with a long, straight line.

Set expressions with the word "verst"

As a legacy from former times, when the word “verst” was constantly used in everyday life, the modern Russian language has received numerous stable expressions of different semantic meanings.

The phrase “Kolomenskaya verst” is used in relation to a very tall person. The summer royal palace was once located in Kolomenskoye near Moscow. The very wide, good and level road was marked by unusually large red pillars marking the miles. This fact gave rise to such a humorous statement.

“To sip jelly seven miles away” is one of the variants of the expression that denoted a long and essentially useless road. The backstory tells of a man who does not want to cook his own food and earn money for it, but prefers to go to distant relatives to eat. The long journey took so much effort and time that what was eaten was only enough for the return journey, and hunger returned again.

“For a mad dog, seven miles is not a detour” - the expression denotes a situation when one’s own lack of foresight makes one spend much more effort on doing something than is actually required.

“Seven miles to heaven and all through the forest” is a playful, ironic statement about a long ornate speech or a long difficult road.

“See/is visible a mile away” - about someone who notices or is noticeable from afar.

Relatives of words used in modern speech

The word "verst" has many cognate forms, the use of which is widespread in modern Russian.

The word "workbench" means a table designed for carrying out certain work with hand-made wood or metal products - previously its main part was a straight long board.

“Typesetting” is now a set, bringing together the component parts of printed or virtual publications or documents. Previously, this term referred to the ability to sew pieces of fabric evenly.

“Peer” - equal, in modern speech it is used in relation to age.

This is not the entire list of historically related words (now their composition may differ), but the above terms are used most often.

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Women row, order, line, straight line, arrangement in a skunk, goose. Drive a mile, straight order, along the thread. | Equal, friend, pair, couple, opposite of what; what suits, suits, suits, suits the measure. He is not a mile away, not a mile away, not a mile away from you... Dictionary Dahl

Y; pl. versts, versts; and. 1. An ancient Russian measure of length equal to 500 fathoms or 1.06 kilometers (used before the introduction of the metric system). Calculation of distance in versts. Lives two miles from here. I walked a mile (about that much)… encyclopedic Dictionary

See couple, tall a mile away, stand a mile away, stand a mile away, eat jelly for fifty (seven, one hundred) miles (drive) (sip), about a mile away... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and expressions similar in meaning. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian dictionaries, 1999.… … Synonym dictionary

Versta is a Russian unit of distance measurement equal to five hundred fathoms or one thousand five hundred arshins (which corresponds to the current 1,066.8 meters, before the reform of the 18th century 1,066.781 meters). Mentioned in literary sources from XI ... Wikipedia

VERST, verst, vin. verst and verst, pl. versts, versts, versts versts, women. The Russian measure of length, used before the introduction of metric measures, is equal to 500 fathoms, a little more than 1 1/15 kilometers. || Milestone (obsolete). “There is an unprecedented mileage there... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

VERSTA, s, plural. versts, versts, versts, women. 1. Old Russian measure of length equal to 1.06 km. The calculation is in versts (but: he lives two versts away). I walked a mile (that is, about a mile). See someone a mile or a mile away. (from a distance). Seven miles to... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Russian measure of length equal to 500 fathoms (1.0668 km). Until the 20th century there was a boundary verst (1000 fathoms; 2.1336 km), used for surveying and determining distances between settlements... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Ukr. verstva, other Russian vrsta age; pair; peer; measure of length, st. glory vrsta ἡλικία (Supr.), Bulgarian. vrast age, Serbohorv. vrsta row, view, sloven. vrsta row; line; view; age, Czech vrstva layer, slvts. vrstva, Polish warstwa... ... Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language by Max Vasmer

Versta, y, verst, verst; pl. versts, versts, versts; calculation in versts; but: five miles away... Russian word stress

verst- VERSTA, s, vin. verst and verst, mn versts, versts, f An ancient Russian measure of length equal to 500 fathoms or 1.06 kilometers. Until the 20th century, there was a boundary verst (1000 fathoms: 2.1336 km), used for surveying and determining distances... Explanatory dictionary of Russian nouns

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