12 words that came to English from Russian

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

You will not find matryoshkas and balalaikas in this list.

In modern Russian, there are a lot of borrowings from English, but the reverse process also occurs. Here are some examples.

1. Sable

One of the earliest borrowings is the word "sable". Russia actively traded in sables, therefore the Russian name of these animals also became the name of their fur and went to Europe. Through the German and French languages in the XIV-XV centuries, it got into English, where it received the Sable / Merriam-Webster Dictionary and another meaning - "dark, black color".

2. Kvass

The Russian "kvass" has been known to the English since the 16th century. Curiously, some English dictionaries define Kvass / Collins English Dictionary kvass as an alcoholic beverage (in the British version) or a type of beer (in the American one). However, both there and there this word is used extremely rarely.

3. Mammoth

The word "mammoth" came into English in the Mammoth / Merriam-Webster Dictionary in the 18th century. Unlike Russian, in English it is used not only to refer to the extinct northern shaggy elephant, but also as an adjective meaning “giant, huge”.

For example: It would be a mammoth task for anyone to capture the complete mood of the book.

4. Borscht

The name of this dish appeared in English in the 19th century. But the word "borscht" cannot be called widespread: like "kvass", it is used extremely rarely, mainly when it comes to Slavic cuisine.

5. Vodka

This drink, popular in Russia, is loved by many in the West. In English, the word "vodka" has been known since about the beginning of the 19th century. The Collins Dictionary lists it as one of the 30,000 most commonly used words.

6. Taiga

Since the end of the 19th century, this word in English has been called the Taiga / Merriam-Webster Dictionary northern coniferous forests. It is rarely used, usually in conversations about ecology, geography or biology.

7. Tundra

To designate the Arctic steppe in English, the Tundra / Merriam-Webster Dictionary has also been used since the 19th century, the Russian word “tundra”. It is curious that it is used more often than taiga, although the scope of their application is the same.

8. Dacha

The word "dacha" entered the English language at the end of the 19th century and means a country house for summer use. And this is only said about dachas in Russia. In relation to country houses in other countries, this word is not used, therefore it is extremely rare.

9. Intelligentsia

From the Russian language, the word "intelligentsia" got the Intelligentsia / Merriam-Webster Dictionary into English in 1905. Probably, the revolution in Russia drew the attention of the West to this class of society, and further discussion of the current events allowed the word intelligentsia to gain a foothold in the English language.

10. Babushka

The fact that in Russian a grandmother is a person, many English-speaking people are probably aware of. And they use this word in relation to older women, only not English or American women, but Russians.

However, since the first half of the 20th century, in English, the word babushka has also been called a headdress - a scarf similar to the one with which Russian grandmothers tie their heads.

For example: Her hair captured under a babushka.

11. Sputnik

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Sputnik-1 was the first to enter stable near-earth orbit. Since then, the word sputnik, meaning a spacecraft, has stuck in the English language. True, it is used mainly in relation to the Soviet Sputnik / Merriam-Webster Dictionary of satellites, and all the rest are called the word satellite ("satellite"), which has no "nationality."

12. Cosmonaut

Another word that came to English thanks to progress in space exploration. Since the mid-1950s, the Cosmonaut / Merriam-Webster Dictionary cosmonaut has been used to refer to Soviet and Russian cosmonauts, while the word astronaut has been used for Americans and cosmonauts from other countries.