Words With Slavic Origins

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108 Words

1 Abramoff A surname of Russian origin.
2 Alaska The largest U.S. state by area, located in the far northwest of North America, with its capital at Juneau.
3 Aleksandr The Russian form of the name Alexander.
4 Alexei The Russian male given name equivalent to Alexius.
5 Alexey An alternative transliteration of the Russian male given name equivalent to Alexis.
6 beatnik A member of the nonconformist Beat Generation of the 1950s and 60s, known for rejecting mainstream values in d...
7 beluga A small white whale found in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters.
8 Bolshevik A member of the Russian revolutionary party that seized power in 1917 and later ruled the Soviet Union.
9 borscht A soup made from beetroot, giving it a deep red color, typically served with sour cream and eaten hot or cold.
10 boyar A member of the highest rank of nobility below royalty in medieval Russia and other Slavic and Balkan states.
11 bratva A Russian organised-crime network or gang, or Russian organised crime in general.
12 Bukowski A Polish surname, notably associated with the American writer Charles Bukowski.
13 burka A full-body garment, traditionally worn in parts of the Caucasus, made of felt or lambskin.
14 Casimir A male given name of Polish origin.
15 che The Cyrillic letter Ч, ч, used in Russian and other Slavic languages.
16 Chechen A person from the Nakh ethnic group native to the northern Caucasus, most of whom live in the Russian republic...
17 Chechnya A republic within Russia, located in the northern Caucasus mountains, with Grozny as its capital.
18 Chekhov A Russian surname, most famously borne by playwright and author Anton Chekhov.
19 Chernobyl A city in northern Ukraine, largely abandoned since the 1986 nuclear disaster there.
20 Chernov A Russian surname.
21 cyanide Any of a group of highly toxic chemical compounds containing a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom.
22 Czech From, or relating to, the Czech Republic, its people, culture, or language.
23 dacha A Russian country house or cottage, often used as a holiday retreat.
24 disinformation False information spread on purpose to mislead people.
25 Dostoevsky An English spelling of the Russian surname of the novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, author of "Crime and Punishment"...
26 Dostoyevsky An alternate English spelling of the Russian surname of the novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky.
27 duma A Russian legislative assembly, especially the lower house of Russia's national parliament.
28 Fahrenheit Relating to the temperature scale where water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees.
29 Gagarin A Russian surname, most famously belonging to Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space.
30 ge The name of the Cyrillic letter Г, г, used in Russian and other Slavic languages.
31 Gorbachev A Russian surname, most notably borne by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union.
32 Gorski A Polish surname.
33 GRU The abbreviated name of the GRU, the Russian (formerly Soviet) military intelligence agency.
34 gulag The Soviet system of forced-labor camps and prisons, especially under Stalin.
35 gulliver Slang for one's head, popularized by the novel and film "A Clockwork Orange."
36 Ivan A male given name of Slavic origin, the Slavic equivalent of "John."
37 jer In Slavic linguistics, either of two short vowel sounds from Old Slavic that later weakened or disappeared in...
38 Kalashnikov A rugged, widely produced Russian assault rifle, most famously the AK-47.
39 Katya A female given name of Russian or Ukrainian origin, roughly equivalent to Kate.
40 kazan A large cauldron or cooking pot traditionally used in Central Asian cooking.
41 KGB The former Soviet security and intelligence agency, responsible for both foreign espionage and internal survei...
42 kha The name of the Cyrillic letter Х/х, pronounced roughly like the "ch" in the Scottish word "loch."
43 Kiev An older English spelling of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine.
44 Komsomol The youth organisation of the Communist Party in the former Soviet Union.
45 Kremlin A fortified citadel or central stronghold found at the heart of many old Russian cities.
46 lana A tropical tree (Genipa americana) that produces a large edible fruit used to make juice and dye.
47 Lewicki A Polish surname.
48 Lodz A voivodeship of Poland and its capital city, also spelled Łódź.
49 Luka A male given name common across Slavic languages, related to Luke.
50 Mak A surname of Chinese, Polish, Ukrainian, or Hungarian origin, depending on family background.
51 mammoth An extinct, elephant-like animal covered in shaggy hair, with long curved tusks, that lived during the Ice Age...
52 Marek A surname of Czech, Slovak, and Polish origin.
53 Masha A female given name of Russian and Ukrainian origin, a diminutive of Maria.
54 Milena A feminine given name common in Slavic languages, the feminine counterpart of Milan.
55 mir A self-governing peasant village community in Imperial Russia that jointly managed local farmland.
56 Miscavige A surname of Polish origin.
57 Nadezhda A female given name of Russian or Bulgarian origin, meaning "hope."
58 nyet No — used to represent a Russian-style blunt refusal.
59 Orlov A Russian surname.
60 parka A heavy, hooded jacket designed to protect against cold, wind, and rain.
61 Pavlov A Russian surname, most famously borne by physiologist Ivan Pavlov.
62 Permian Relating to the final geological period of the Paleozoic era, roughly 299 to 252 million years ago.
63 Petrov A common Russian and Bulgarian surname meaning "son of Peter".
64 Polack A Polish person (often considered an ethnic slur in English).
65 Poland A country in Central Europe.
66 polka A lively couple dance in duple time that originated in Bohemia, or the brisk music written for it.
67 Pyotr A Russian male given name, a transliteration of Пётр, equivalent to Peter.
68 Rachmaninoff An English spelling of the Russian surname belonging to composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.
69 Rasputin By extension from the historical figure, any manipulative advisor or insider who gains excessive, often sinist...
70 roanoke Small white beads made from shells, once used as ornaments and as a form of currency among Native American peo...
71 RPG A role-playing game, in which players take on the identity of characters in a story.
72 ruble The main unit of currency in Russia and Belarus.
73 samovar A decorative metal urn, traditionally Russian, used to heat water for tea and keep it hot for hours.
74 Sanya A female given name used in Russian- and Arabic-speaking cultures.
75 Sasha A male or female given name of Russian or Ukrainian origin, traditionally a diminutive of Alexander or Alexand...
76 Serb A person of Serbian ethnic descent, whether or not they live in Serbia.
77 sha The name of the Cyrillic letter Ш, used in Russian and other Slavic alphabets.
78 Shostakovich An English transliteration of the Russian surname Shostakóvich, most famously borne by the composer Dmitri Sho...
79 Siberia The vast region of Russia stretching across northern Asia from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific.
80 Solovyov A Russian surname derived from "solovey," meaning "nightingale."
81 soviet An elected council that formed the basic unit of government in the former Soviet Union.
82 Soyuz A Russian (originally Soviet) series of spacecraft and rockets used to carry crews to orbit and to the Interna...
83 sputnik Any of the early Soviet artificial satellites, especially the first one launched in 1957.
84 stooge Someone who lets themselves be used by others, usually to take the blame or do the dirty work.
85 stroganoff A dish of sautéed strips of beef served in a creamy sauce, typically with sour cream.
86 Sveta A Russian pet form of the name Svetlana.
87 Svetlana A female given name common in Slavic, especially Orthodox Christian, countries.
88 SVR Russia's foreign intelligence agency, responsible for espionage and intelligence gathering outside the country...
89 taiga The vast belt of coniferous forest that stretches across the northern hemisphere, lying between the tundra to...
90 Tania A short form of the female names Tatiana or Tetyana.
91 Tanya A short form of the female names Tatiana or Tetyana.
92 Taran A male given name.
93 Tolstoy A Russian surname, most famously associated with the novelist Leo Tolstoy.
94 Tonya A diminutive of the female given names Antonina or Antonia, from Russian
95 Tripoli A soft, powdery rock made from the fossilized shells of tiny algae, used as a fine abrasive for polishing meta...
96 tse The Cyrillic letter Ц, ц.
97 Ukraine A country in Eastern Europe on the northern coast of the Black Sea, with Kyiv as its capital.
98 ve The name of the Cyrillic letter В/в.
99 vig Slang for the commission or interest charged by a bookmaker or moneylender.
100 Vladivostok A major port city in the far east of Russia, on the Pacific coast.
101 vodka A strong, clear spirit distilled mainly from grain or potatoes, typically with little flavor of its own.
102 Warsaw The capital and largest city of Poland.
103 yarmulke A small, round skullcap worn by Jewish men, especially during prayer or religious observance.
104 yat A letter of the old Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets, no longer used in modern spelling.
105 yer A hard or soft sign letter (ъ or ь) in Cyrillic alphabets, once representing very short vowel sounds in old Sl...
106 Yulia A Russian female given name, the equivalent of the English name Julia.
107 Yuri A Russian male given name, the equivalent of "George."
108 zloty Poland's currency unit, made up of 100 smaller units called groszy.