Arshine

/ɑrˈʃin/ noun

Definition

Another variant spelling of the Russian unit of measurement arshin, approximately 71 centimeters in length.

Etymology

From Russian аршин (arshin) with English suffix variations. The multiple spellings (arshine, arshin, arsheen) reflect different transliteration conventions used by English speakers in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Kelly Says

The existence of three different English spellings for the same Russian measurement shows how languages struggled with transliteration before standardized systems—different traders spelled it different ways in their ledgers.

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