Romanian units of measurement

"This is the fathom from Craiova of eight palms, Bujorianu". Inscription on the wooden church in Mănăilești-Moșteni, Vâlcea county.

The measures of the old Romanian system varied greatly not only between the three Romanian states (Wallachia, Moldavia), 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.

## Contents

* 1 Length
* 2 Volume
* 3 Weight
* 4 Area
* 5 See also
* 5.1 Notes
* 6 References

## Length

* Palmă (palm) - 1/8 of a stânjen
* Stânjen \- 2 m (approximately)
* Palmac \- 3.48 cm (Moldavia)
* Poștă \- 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

Note: the "quarts" in this table are imperial quarts, not US quarts. Similarly for gallons.

Unit  | Value in Moldavia  | Value in Wallachia  | Value in Transylvania

|
|
|

Oca | 1.5 litres; 1.32 quarts | 1.25 litres; 1.1 quarts  | 1.26 litres
Litră | 0.25 litres; 0.22 quarts  | 0.25 litres; 0.22 quarts  | 0.25 litres; 0.22 quarts
Baniță | 21.5 litres; 18.3 quarts  | 33.96 litres; 29.9 quarts  | –
Chiup | 30–40 litres; 26–35 quarts
Câblă | unknown
Merță | 110–120 litres; 97–106 quarts  | –  | 22.5 litres; 20 quarts
Ferdelă/Felderă | 20 litres[1]
Obroc mare | 66 litres; 58 quarts  | 55 litres; 48 quarts  | –
Obroc mic | 33 litres; 29 quarts  | 27.5 litres; 24 quarts  | –
Giumătate | 1200–1500 litres; 264-330 gallons
Vadră | 15 litres; 13 quarts  | 12.88 litres; 11 quarts  | 12.6 litres
Balercă | 450 litres  | 386.4 litres  | 378 litres
Pintă | –  | –  | 3.394 litres; 2.988 quarts
Tină | –  | –  | 15 litres; 13 quarts
Sau | 3.22–3.80 millilitres; 0.11–0.13 fluid ounces  | –  | –

## Weight

Unit  | Metric value  | Imperial value

|
|

Dram | 3.18 - 3.25 g  | 50.155 Gr
Font | 0.5kg  | 17.64 Oz

## Area

Unit  | Metric value  | Imperial value

|
|

Feredelă | 1.25 m2 | 11.61 ft2
Stânjen pătrat | 3.59665 m2 | 38.714 ft2
Pogon | 5,000 m2 | 46.45 ft2
Falce | 14.3 m2 | 132.85 ft2
Prăjină | 195 m2 | 1812 ft2
Iugăr | 5.700 m2 | 52954.73 ft2

## See also

* Historical weights and measures
* SI
* Weights and measures

### Notes

* Iugăr – the area ploughed in one day by two oxen – 7166 m2 (Transylvania in 1517); 5,700 m² (in other states)
* Stânjen pătrat – Embracing square

## References

1. ↑ "dexonline". https://dexonline.ro/definitie/ferdelă. Retrieved Feb 22, 2025.

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

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