The span is how much? What is the span? What does the word "span" mean?

Sometimes even today one can hear words from the Old Russian language. They are so deeply involved in everyday life that without them speech becomes dull and colorless. However, using such expressions, we often do not guess their true meaning.

Let's look at this article, what does the word "span" mean, what is its length, and where did this term come from.

The meaning of the word, and the types of spans

In the Slavs, this term had several meanings. The first three ("foot", "brush" and "small measure of the area") were distributed quite narrowly - in some dialects and dialects.

The latter value - a measure of length - was used very widely and survived to the present day. In its classical sense, the span is the distance between the tips of the forefinger and the thumb, which are separated in different directions.

If you correlate it with other measures of length in Ancient Rus, the following picture will be obtained. The span is the twelfth part of the sazhen, a quarter arshin or four inches. If we talk about Western dimensions, then it will be seven inches.

The approximate value of this measure of length is 18 centimeters. But there are different types of spans, we'll talk about this later.

Etymology

Scientists believe that this word is derived from the pre-Slavic root "pie", which later migrated to many languages.

The main meanings of words, of which this root is a part, are the following.

Lithuanian and Latvian terms associated with the installation of slings and traps. Western Slavic languages have similar words with meanings of "five", "one-fourth of the arshin" and "stretch".

That is, you can see that the span is a measure of length, to measure which you need to stretch something. In fact, it turns out to be fingers. The word "quarter" is a synonym.

History of occurrence

In written monuments of Russian history, this term is used for the first time in the twelfth century. However, even the approximate value of it was difficult to determine, until the records of the pilgrims were revealed in the Holy Land.

In these documents, the measurements of the Holy Sepulcher were recorded. Pilgrims, being in Palestine at different times from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, called similar figures. Thanks to this, it was deciphered, which is equal to the span. This is how many monks traveled not just to bow to the shrine, but also to document it in order to leave the data to the descendants!

As we will talk later, there were three types of sprees. "Big", "small" and "with a somersault". The first was about twenty-three, the second-eighteen, and the third-twenty-seven or thirty-one centimeters.

Many people wonder why it is "with a somersault". Very simple. This meant that we put the end of the thumb at the starting point, then put the end of the index finger (at about 18 cm) at the maximum distance. And after, as if continuing the movement by inertia, release the thumb and put the index on the side where the nail. We measure, therefore, two or three phalanges further. It turns a kind of somersault.

By the way, the last measure of length was determined by academician Rybakov, studying construction. In Rus, the bricks were measured with a heap with a somersault.

Since the sixteenth century, it is gradually withdrawing from urban use. Remains in the villages (mentioned in records about the thickness of the snow layer in the fields) and in the religious sphere (the size of the images in the churches was measured).

During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the word "span" appears officially in the documents. The measure of length is now equal to the twelfth part of the sazhen. But her official life was short, and soon a similar length is called a "quarter".

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Peter the Great "cut" the window to Europe and changed everything to the Western style. Since that period, this length is seven inches, and sazhen - seven feet.
But in popular usage the span lived until the beginning of the twentieth century and was eliminated only in the Soviet era.

Nevertheless, this word can be heard even now. But today you, most likely, will hear a puzzled question: "And the span is how much?"

System of measures

If you try to find matches, you can make a small nameplate.
In fact, in Russia there was no decimal number system, as we are now. Therefore, this approach will be of interest to those who are trying to understand the ancient written historical sources.

So, we remember that at the time of Ivan Vasilyevich Grozny, the span is the twelfth part of the sazhen, which in turn consisted of three arshins. Sazhen, by the way, was ordinary - 2 meters 13 centimeters - and oblique - 2 meters 48 centimeters.

Thus, it turns out that the vertex is a quarter of a span. Foot (foot) - about two inches, elbow - three, arshin - four, measure (polsazhenii) - six. A mile was about six thousand peaks (although who would want to measure a quarter of a kilometer ?!)

In modern science, the official figure is 17.78 centimeters.

An interesting fact is that a similar method of measuring distance is not very common. In the English tradition, it is "spen" (about 23 centimeters), the length from the end of the little finger to the thumb.

In African tribes measured with large and medium fingers, and the value is called "Unguru".

The span in literature and music

This measure of length is mentioned by different authors. In the twentieth century, it "surfaced" in the work of Vladimir Vysotsky, in the song "We are Rotating the Earth."

Also there is a gap in the work "How the Steel Was Tempered" by Nikolai Ostrovsky and "Captain's Daughter" by Alexander Pushkin.

In addition, it is mentioned by such authors as Voronel, Ladinsky, Ilichevsky, Grigoriev, Vyazemsky and many others.

It is not always true, in works the span is a measure of length. Sometimes a synonym for a brush, a foot or a small piece of land, as mentioned above.

Mention in folklore

In folk art this word is used in diametrically opposite cases.

On the one hand, the span is something small, if we talk about the area. "Do not give a single inch of land."

On the other - a measure of growth. "7 sprouts in the forehead." This does not mean that the head of someone has more than a meter in height. The forehead used to call a teenager. It is believed that 1 meter 30 centimeters is an approximate growth of a thirteen-year-old boy in Ancient Rus.

Also these words can mean in a figurative sense and very sensible person. "If the big forehead, it means a lot of mind in the head," was considered before. Therefore, such an expression appeared.

Thus, from the article you learned not only the meaning and size of the span, but also the history of its appearance, the correlation with other units and examples from creativity.

Good luck, dear readers!