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ruay [Burmese]

In Burma, ? – 20ᵗʰ century, two units of mass. Also romanized as rwé¹ and rweh².

The big ruay is in concept the mass of a seed of Red Sandalwood (Adenanthera pavonina). Currently³, approximately 0.2551 grams (approximately 0.009 ounces avoirdupois). The big ruay is also called a rwe-gyee⁴ or ywegale.

The small ruay is in concept the mass of a seed of the rosary pea (Abrus precatorius L.), and by convention is half the mass of the large ruay. It may be called a kyeng-rwe.⁴

Both plants produce hard, bright red seeds that have extremely consistent seed-to-seed weights, the rosary pea weighing about a tenth of a gram, and Adenanthera about a fourth of a gram.

1. John Crawfurd.
On the Peoples and Cultures of the Kingdom of Burma.
SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, vol. 3, no. 2 (Autumn 2005).

Page 505.

3. United Nations, 1966.

4. H. J. Chaney.
Our Weights and Measures. A Practical Treatise on the Standard Weights and Measures in Use in the British Empire…
London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1897.

Page 41.

sources

the Abrus precatorius; (), the seed of the said tree used as a weight, six of which make a pè () and 8 a great pè

Robert C. Stevenson.
Judson's Burmese-English Dictionary. Revised and Enlarged.
Rangoon: Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, 1893.
Page 300.

the Adenanthera pavonina; the seed of said plant used as a weight, one being equal to two of the Abrus precatorius (), and therefore making a great pè, and three a small pè.

Robert C. Stevenson.
Judson's Burmese-English Dictionary. Revised and Enlarged.
Rangoon: Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, 1893.
Page 957.
Obviously what was intended was “and therefore four making”; perhaps a misunderstanding in dictation.

Ruay, seeds used as weights in Burmah, the small ruay being that of Abrus precatorius and the large ruay the seed of Adenanthera pavonina.

Simmonds (1892), page 489.