Verst
{{short description|Obsolete Russian unit of length}}
{{Infobox unit
| image = Ružany. Ружаны (N. Orda, XIX).jpg
| caption = Highway location verst marker in Ruzhany, Russian Empire. Napoleon Orda, 1863
| standard = Obsolete Russian units of measurement
| quantity = Length
| symbol =
| namedafter =
| convertfromx =
| units1 = Sazhen
| inunits1 = {{val|1|500|u=Sazhen}}
| units2 = SI base units
| inunits2 = {{val|1.0668|u=km}}
| units3 = Mile
| inunits3 = {{val|0.6630|u=mi}}
}}
A verst ({{IPA|en|vɜrst}}; {{langx|ru|верста|versta}}) is an obsolete Russian unit of length,{{cite book |last1=Hoad |first1=T. F. |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology |date=1 January 2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-283098-2 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780192830982.001.0001/acref-9780192830982-e-16636? |language=en |chapter=verst}} defined as 500 sazhen. This makes a verst equal to {{convert|1.0668|km|ft|abbr=off}}.{{cite book |title=Canadian Oxford dictionary |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780195418163 |edition=2. |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195418163.001.0001/m_en_ca0076073 |language=en |chapter=verst}}
Plurals and variants
In the English language, verst is singular with the normal plural versts. In Russian, the nominative singular is {{Lang|ru-latn|versta}}, but the form usually used with numbers is the genitive plural {{Lang|ru-latn|verst}}—10 verst, 25 verst, etc.—whence the English form.
A {{Lang|ru-latn|mezhevaya versta}} ({{langx|ru|межевая верста}}, literally "border verst") is twice as long as a verst.
The verst of the 17th century was 700 sazhens or 1.49 km as against the 500 sazhens or 1.067 km it became at the time of Peter the Great.{{cite book |first=Raymond H. |last=Fisher |title=The Voyage of Semen Dezhnev |publisher=Hakluyt Society |year=1981 |page=176 |isbn=0-904180-07-7 |postscript=none }}, citing Dal's Tolkovyy Slovar.
Finnish ''virsta''
In Finland, a {{Lang|fi|virsta}} was 1,068.84 m according to the Swedish standard, defined in 1827 as {{fract|1|10}} of a {{Lang|fi|peninkulma}}, the Finnish language name for the pre-metric Swedish mil, used in Finland since the early 17th century (see Obsolete Finnish units of measurement), or 600 {{Lang|fi|syli}} (Swedish fathoms, 1.781 m). Metrication replaced {{Lang|fi|virsta}} with the kilometre in the 1880s.{{cite book |last=Konu |first=Mia |title=Palvelukseen halutaan yksi raitis imettäjä |series=Notiiseja ja reklaameja 1800-luvun sanomalehdistä |publisher=Nemo |location=Helsinki |year=2009 |isbn=9789522400130 |language=fi }}
References
{{refs}}
External links
{{wiktionary}}
- [http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/abstract/miscellaneous/measurements/c_russian3.html Conversion table]