Romanian units of measurement

„This is the fathom from Craiova of eight palms, Bujorianu”. Inscription on the wooden church in Mănăileşti-Moşteni, Vâlcea county.

The measures of the old Romanian system varied greatly not only between the three Romanian states (Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania), but sometimes also inside the same country. The origin of some of the measures are the Latin (such as iugăr unit), Slavic (such as vadră unit), Greek (such as dram unit) and Turkish (such as palmac unit) systems.

This system is no longer in wide use since the adoption of the metric system in 1864, however some rural communities still use a small subset of these units.

Length

• Palmă (palm) - 1/8 of a stânjen
• Stânjen - 2 m (approximately)
• Palmac - 3.48 cm (Moldavia)
• Poştă - 8–20 km (depending on the country)
• Pas mic (small step) - 4 palme (Wallachia) (palme is the plural noun for palmă)
• Pas mare (large step) - 6 palme (Wallachia; Moldavia)
• Lat de palmă (palm width) - 1/2 palmă
• Cot (cubit) - 664 mm (Moldavia); 637 mm (Wallachia)
• Funie (rope) - 20–120 m (depending on the place)
• Leghe (league) - 4.444 km;
• Deget (finger) - the width of a finger
• Prăjină - 3 stânjeni (stânjeni is the plural noun for stânjen)
• Verstă - 1067 m (3,500 ft)
• Picior (foot) - 1/6 of a stânjen

Volume

none = (Moldavia) Bold = (Wallachia) Italic = (Transylvania)

Unit	Metric value (by state)	Imperial value (by state)
Oca	1.5 litres; 1.25 litres	1.32 Quarts; 1.1 Quarts
Litră	0.25 litres in all 3	0.22 Quarts in all 3
Baniţă	21.5 litres; 33.96 litres	18.3 Quarts; 29.9 Quarts
Chiup	30-40 litres	26-35 Quarts
Câblă	-	-
Merţă - (Moldavia);	110-120 litres; 22.5 litres	97-106 Quarts; 20 Quarts
Feredelă	-	-
Obroc mare	66 litres; 55 litres	58 Quarts; 48 Quarts
Obroc mic - 22 ocale	33 litres; 27.5 litres	29 Quarts; 24 Quarts
Giumătate	1200-1500 litres	1056-1320 Quarts (264-330 Gallons)
Vadră	15 litres; 12.88 litres	13 Quarts; 11 Quarts
Pintă	3.394 litres	2.988 Quarts
Tină	15 litres	13 Quarts
Sau	3.22-3.80 millilitres	0.11-0.13 Fluid ounces

Notes

• Litră - (still used as 1/4 of a litre in some regions of Romania)
• Chiup - (a chiup was a large clay pot for liquids)
• Feredelă - 1/4 bucket (Transylvania)
• Vadră - (Moldavia) (still used as 10 litres in some regions of Romania)

Weight

Unit	relation to previous	Metric value	Imperial value
Dram	...	3.18 - 3.25 g	50.155 Gr
Font	158 Dram	0.5kg	17.64 Oz

Area

Unit	relation to previous	Metric value	Imperial value
Feredelă	...	1.25 m²	11.6128 Sq Ft
Pogon -	4 Feredelă	5 m²	46.45 Sq Ft
Falce -	3 Pogon	14.3 m²	132.85 Sq Ft
Prăjină	14 Falce	195 m²	1811.609 Sq Ft
Iugăr	3 Prăjină	5,700 m²	52954.73 Sq Ft

Notes

• Iugăr - the area ploughed in one day by two oxen - 7166 m² (Transylvania in 1517); 5,700 m² (in other states)

References

Nicolae, Stoicescu: Cum măsurau strămoşii, metrologia medievală pe teritoriul româniei, Editura Ştiinţifică, Bucureşti, 1971.

See also

• Weights and measures
• Historical weights and measures
• SI