List of English words of Russian origin
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Many languages, including English, contain words possibly borrowed from Russian. Not all of them are of truly Russian or Slavic origin. Some of them co-exist in other Slavic languages and it is difficult to decide whether they entered English from Russian or, say, from Polish, most notable of these being vodka. Some others are borrowed or constructed from classical ancient languages, such as Latin or Greek, still others are borrowed from indigenous peoples of the Russia, the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.
Most of them are used to denote things and notions specific to Russia, Russian culture, politics, history, especially well-known outside Russia: vodka, intelligentsia, taiga, tundra, pogrom. Some others are in mainstream usage, independent of any Russian context.
Contents |
Common
- Babushka
- Balalaika
- Bistro
- Cosmonaut
- Gulag
- Intelligentsia
- Kazakh
- Knout
- (borrowing from Swedish)
- Kopek
- (kopeck, copeck)
- Kremlin
- Mammoth
- Matryoshka
- Parka
- Pogrom
- Ruble (Rouble)
- Sable
- Samovar
- Sputnik
- Steppe
- Taiga
- Tchotchke (via Yiddish from Russian or Polish)
- Troika (triumvirate)
- Troika (dance)
- Troika (sled)
- Tundra
- Ushanka
- Vodka
Cuisine
- Blintz
- blin, pancake
- Borshch
- Ukrainian
- Kasha
- Buckwheat groats, Russian for "porridge" or "gruel"
- Kvass
- Medovukha
- Okroshka
- Pelmeni
- Pirogi
- also Polish pierogi, little pies, usually with meat, potato or cabbage inside.
- Pirozhki
- also piroshki small pirogi
- Shashlik
- Shchi
- Sirniki, syrniki
- Smetana
- sour cream sauce
- Solyanka
- Vareniki
- from Ukrainian varenyky
Political, Administrative
- Agitprop
- Apparatchik
- Bolshevik
- Boyar
- Cheka
- Czar
- Commissar
- DOSAAF
- Duma
- Dvoryanstvo, Dvoryanin
- FSB
- Glasnost
- Guberniya
- Kadet
- KGB
- Kniaz
- Kolkhoz
- Korenizatsiya
- Kulak
- Krai
- Leninism
- Lishenets
- MGB
- Menshevik
- Mir
- MVD
- Narkompros
- NEP
- NKVD
- Nomenklatura
- Obshchina
- Oblast
- Okhranka
- Okrug
- Oprichina
- Oprichnik
- Perestroika
- Politburo
- Propiska
- Raion
- from French
- Silovik
- SMERSH
- Soviet
- Sovkhoz
- Sovmin
- Sovnarkhoz
- Sovnarkom
- Spetsnaz
- Stakhanovite
- Stalinism
- Stavka
- Tsar, tsardom, tsarina, tsarevna, tsarevich, tsesarevich
- Ukase
- Veche
- Yevsektsiya
- Zampolit
- Zemshchina
- Zemsky Sobor
- Zemstvo
Religious
- Beglopopovtsy
- Bespopovtsy
- Doukhobor
- Chlysty
- Lippovan, Lipovan, Lipovans
- Molokan
- Pomortsy
- Popovtsy
- Raskol
- Raskolnik
- Rogozhskoe Soglasie
- Skoptzy
- Starets
- Yurodivy
- Znamennoe singing
Technical, special
- Chernozem , podsol, solonetz — soil types
- Baidarka — a type of sea kayak
- Elektrichka — a type of passenger electric train
- Redan — a type of fortification, the word is of French origin
- Tokamak — a plasma confinement device
- Polynya — area of clear water in arctic ices
- Rasputitsa — a season of muddy roads
Obsolete Russian weights and measures
Various
These are some other untranslatable Russian terms that have articles in English language Wikipedia. Note: the translations given below transkate the words themselves, not the actual meaning behind the word (for example, Voskhod is any kind of rise in Russian, whereas here it means the spaceship's name).
- BAM
- Banya - sauna
- Barynya - landlord's wife
- Bayan - musical instrument
- Belomorkanal (canal) and Belomorkanal (cigarettes)
- Burlak - a barge hauler (person)
- Bylina - a folk story
- Cantonist
- Chainik - kettle
- Chastushka - a short folk song, usually humorous
- Dacha - country house
- Ded Moroz - Russian Santa Claus
- Dedovshchina
- Junker (Russia)
- Katorga - akin convicts sent to Australia
- Kamarinskaya
- Khorovod - a dance
- Kurgan - a hill
- Lysenkoism
- Lunokhod
- mat - Russian curse language
- Muzhik - man
- Palochka - (little) stick
- Pravda - truth
- Rodina - homecountry
- Sambo - martial art
- Samizdat
- Samogon - a type of vodka created at home
- Sharashka
- Snegurochka
- Soyuz - union
- Titlo
- Voskhod - sunrise (and kind of rise)
- Vostok - east
- Votchina - (historical), inheritable land estate
- Yabloko - apple
- Zaum
- Zvezda - star
See also
- Cyrillic alphabet
- Runglish
- Volapuk encoding
- Category:Russian terminology and its subcategories