List of English words of Russian origin

This page transcribes Russian (written in the Cyrillic alphabet
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...

) using the IPA
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...

. For a quick overview of Russian pronunciation, see WP:IPA for Russian.

Many languages, including English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, contain words most likely borrowed from the Russian language

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

. Not all of the words are truly fluent Russian or Slavic

Slavic peoples

The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...

origin. Some of them co-exist in other Slavic languages

Slavic languages

The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...

and it is difficult to decide whether they made English from Russian or, say, from Polish

Polish language

Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...

. Some other words are borrowed or constructed from the classical ancient languages, such as Latin or Greek. Still others are themselves borrowed from indigenous peoples that Russians have come into contact with in Russian or Soviet territory.

Compared to other source languages, very few of the words borrowed into English come from Russian. Direct borrowing first began with contact between England and Russia in the 16th century and picked up heavily in the 20th century with the establishment of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

as a major world power. Most of them are used to denote things and notions specific to Russia, Russian culture, politics, history, especially well-known outside Russia. Some others are in mainstream usage, independent of any Russian context.

Common

-nik

The English suffix -nik is of Slavic origin. It approximately corresponds to the suffix "-er" and nearly always denotes an agent noun...

, a borrowed suffix
Babushka

Babushka

Babushka , babooshka, babouchka or baboushka may refer to:*A Western term for a woman's headscarf tied below the chin in the Eastern European manner.**Babushka Lady, who wore such a headscarf....

(Russian: ба́бушка [ˈbabuʂkə] "grandmother"), a headscarf folded diagonally and tied under the chin (this meaning is absent in the Russian language).

Balalaika

Balalaika

The balalaika is a stringed musical instrument popular in Russia, with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass...

(Russian: балала́йка, [bəlɐˈlajkə])
(Tartar origin) A triangle-shaped mandolin-like musical instrument with three strings.

Bridge game

Contract bridge

Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...

(from the Old East Slavic: бирич biritch
Biritch
Biritch in Ancient Rus was a herald, an announcer of the will of a knyaz, sometimes kniaz's deputy in police or diplomatic affairs, or tax collector...

).

Cosmonaut

Astronaut

An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....

Russian: космона́вт (IPA [kəsmɐˈnaft] (κόσμος kosmos a Greek word, which in Russian stands for 'outer space', rather than 'world' or 'universe', and nautes 'sailor', thus 'space sailor'; the term cosmonaut was first used in 1959; the near similar word "cosmonautic" had been coined in 1947) A Russian astronaut. Cosmodrome (by analogy with aerodrome) was coined to refer to a launching site for Russian spacecraft.

Gulag

Gulag

The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...

(Russian: Главное Управление Исправительно-Трудовых Лагерей и колоний) (Russian acronym for Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey i kolonii, The Chief Administration (or Directorate) of Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies.)

(historical) In the former Soviet Union, an administered system of corrective labor camps and prisons.
(figurative
Figurative
Figurative may refer to:*Figurative art*Figurative language*Neo-figurative art...

) A coercive institution, or an oppressive environment.

Intelligentsia

The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...

(Russian: интеллиге́нция [ɪntʲɪlʲɪˈɡʲɛntsɨjə]) (from Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

intelligence, intelligentia from inter "between", and legare "to choose")

The part of a nation (originally in pre-revolutionary Russia) having aspirations to intellectual activity, a section of society regarded as possessing culture and political initiative; plural the members of this section of a nation or society.
In the former Soviet Union, the intellectual elite.

Kazakh (Russian: каза́х) (Russian, late 16th century, Kazak, from Turkic

Turkic languages

The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...

meaning "vagabond" or "nomad", name of the ethnicity was transliterated into English from Russian spelling. The self-appellation is "Kazak" or "Qazaq".) Kazakh people.

Knout

Knout

A knout is a heavy scourge-like multiple whip, usually made of a bunch of rawhide thongs attached to a long handle, sometimes with metal wire or hooks incorporated....

(Russian: кнут [knut]) perhaps from Swedish knutpiska, a kind of whip, or Germanic origin Knute, Dutch Knoet, Anglo-Saxon cnotta, English knot) A whip formerly used as an instrument of punishment in Russia; the punishment inflicted by the knout.

Kopeck

Ruble

The ruble or rouble is a unit of currency. Currently, the currency units of Belarus, Russia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria, and, in the past, the currency units of several other countries, notably countries influenced by Russia and the Soviet Union, are named rubles, though they all are...

(Russian: копе́йка, [kɐˈpʲejkə]; derives from the Russian (копьё [kɐˈpʲjo] 'spear') a reference to the image of a rider with a spear on the coins minted by Moscow after the capture of Novgorod in 1478) A Russian currency, a subunit of Ruble

Ruble

, 100 kopecks is equal to 1 ruble.

Kremlin

Kremlin

A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...

(Russian: Кремль [krʲɛmlʲ]) (Russian for "fortress", "citadel" or "castle") A citadel or fortified enclosure within a Russian town of city, especially the Kremlin of Moscow; (the Kremlin) Metonym for the government of the former USSR, and to a lesser of extent of Russian post- Soviet government.

Mammoth

Mammoth

A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...

(Russian ма́монт mamont [ˈmamənt], from Yakut

Yakut

Yakut may refer to:* Yakuts, the Turkic people associated with the Sakha Republic* Yakut language, a Turkic language also known as Sakha.* Ruby in Turkish language* Yakut , a breed from Russia*Yakut Pony, horse breed from Siberia, Russia...

mamont, probably mama, "earth", perhaps from the notion that the animal burrowed in the ground) Any various large, hairy, extinct elephant

Elephant

Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...

s of the genus Mammuthus, especially the Wooly Mammoth. 2. (adjective) Something of great size.

Matryoshka also Russian nested doll, stacking doll, Babushka doll, or Russian doll (Russian: матрёшка [mɐˈtrʲoʂkə]. A set of brightly colored wooden dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside another. "Matryoshka" is a derivative of the Russian female first name "Matryona", which is traditionally associated with a corpulent, robust, rustic Russian woman.

Muzhik (Russian мужи́к, before 1917 referring to a man of low social standing, now colloquially used for any man) A Russian peasant.

Pogrom

Pogrom

A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...

(from Russian: погро́м; from "громить" gromit "to destroy"; the word came to English through Yiddish פאָגראָם c.1880–1885)http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pogrom

(early 20th century) A riot against Jews.
(general) An organized, officially tolerated attack on any community or group.
(transitive verb) Massacre or destroy in a pogrom.

Ruble

(Rouble) (From Russian ру́бль rubl [ˈrublʲ], from Old Russian rubli "cut" or "piece", probably originally a piece cut from a silver ingot bar (grivna) from Russian рубить, rubiti meaning "to chop". Historically, "ruble" was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot (grivna), hence the name. An alternate etymology may suggest the name comes from the Russian noun рубец, rubets, i.e., the seam that is left around the coin after casting: silver was added to the cast in two goes. Therefore the word ruble means "a cast with a seam".) The Russian unit of currency

Currency

In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...

.

Sable

Sable

The sable is a species of marten which inhabits forest environments, primarily in Russia from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, in northern Mongolia and China and on Hokkaidō in Japan. Its range in the wild originally extended through European Russia to Poland and Scandinavia...

(from Russian sobol – со́боль [ˈsobəlʲ], ultimately from Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

samor) A carnivorous mammal of the Mustelidae

Weasel

Weasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs....

family native to Northern Europe and Asia.

Samovar

Samovar

A samovar is a heated metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water in and around Russia, as well as in other Central, South-Eastern, Eastern European countries,Kashmir and in the Middle-East...

(Russian: самова́р, IPA: [səmɐˈvar] (Russian samo "self" and varit "to boil" hence "self-boil") A Russian tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

urn, with an internal heating device to keep the water at boiling point.

Sputnik

Sputnik (disambiguation)

Sputnik or Sputnik 1 is the first artificial satellite, launched October 1957.Sputnik may also refer to:*Sputnik , a spacecraft designation...

(Russian: спу́тник is "travelling companion" from s "co-" + put "way" or "journey" + noun suffix -nik
-nik
The English suffix -nik is of Slavic origin. It approximately corresponds to the suffix "-er" and nearly always denotes an agent noun...

person connected with something; it means "satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

" when referring to astronomy related topics)

In English, the best known meaning is the name of a series of unmanned artificial earth satellites launched by the Soviet Union from 1957 to the early 1960s; especially Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 ) was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space...

which on October 4, 1957 became the first man-made object to orbit the earth.

Taiga

Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...

(Russian: тайга́, originally from Mongolian

Mongolian language

The Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...

or Turkic

Turkic languages

). The swampy, coniferous forests of high northern latitudes, especially referring to that between the tundra and the steppes of Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

.

Troika

Troika

The general meaning of the Russian and Bulgarian word troika is three of a kind, a collection of three or simply the number three. It may also mean:-Politics:* Troika of judges or political leaders...

(Russian: тро́йка [ˈtrojkə] "threesome" or "triumvirate")

(mid 19th century) A Russian vehicle, either a wheeled carriage or a sleigh, drawn by three horses abreast.
A Russian folk dance with three people
Troika (dance)
Troika is a Russian folk dance, where a man dances with two women. The Russian word troika means three-horse team/gear. In the Russian dance the dancers imitate the prancing of horses pulling a sled or a carriage....

, often one man and two women.
(historical) a) In the former Soviet Union, a commission headed by three people
Troika (triumvirate)
Troika is a committee consisting of three members. The origin of "troika" comes from the term in Russian used to describe three-horse harnessed carriage, or more often, horse-drawn sledge.- Communist states :...

; especially NKVD Troika
NKVD troika
NKVD troika or Troika, in Soviet Union history, were commissions of three persons who convicted people without trial. These commissions were employed as an instrument of extrajudicial punishment introduced to circumvent the legal system with a means for quick execution or imprisonment...

. b) In the former Soviet Union, a group of three powerful Soviet leaders; especially referring to the 1953 Troika of Georgy Malenkov
Georgy Malenkov
Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov was a Soviet politician, Communist Party leader and close collaborator of Joseph Stalin. After Stalin's death, he became Premier of the Soviet Union and was in 1953 briefly considered the most powerful Soviet politician before being overshadowed by Nikita...

, Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....

, and Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...

that briefly ruled the Soviet Union after the death of Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

.
A group of three people or things working together, especially in an administrative or managerial capacity.

Ushanka

An ushanka , also known as a trooper, is a Russian fur cap with ear flaps that can be tied up to the crown of the cap, or tied at the chin to protect the ears, jaw and lower chin from the cold. The thick dense fur also offers some protection against blunt impacts to the head...

(Russian: уша́нка [uˈʂankə]), or shapka-ushanka, literally "ear-flaps hat", a type of cap (Russian: ша́пка shapka) made of fur with ear flaps that can be tied up to the crown of the cap, or tied at the chin to protect the ears from the cold.

Vodka

Vodka

Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....

(Russian: во́дка [ˈvotkə]) (Russian diminutive of вода voda "water") An alcoholic liquor distilled from fermented wheat mash, but now also made from a mash of rye, corn, or potatoes.

Cuisine

Coulibiac

A coulibiac is a loaf of fish, meat, or vegetables, baked in a pastry shell. The traditional Russian version is made with salmon or sturgeon, hard-boiled eggs, mushrooms, and dill....

(origin 1895–1900, from Russian: кулебя́ка kulebyáka, an oblong loaf of fish, meat, or vegetables, baked in a pastry shell; of uncert. orig) A Russian fish pie typically made with salmon or sturgeon, hard-boiled eggs, mushrooms, and dill, baked in a yeast or puff pastry shell.

Medovukha

Medovukha

Medovukha is an Old Balto-Slavic honey-based alcoholic beverage very similar to mead. These two words are related and go back to the Proto-Indo-European meddhe...

(Russian: медову́ха, from мёд) (Proto-Indo-European meddhe, "honey"). A Russian honey-based alcoholic beverage similar to mead

Mead

Mead , also called honey wine, is an alcoholic beverage that is produced by fermenting a solution of honey and water. It may also be produced by fermenting a solution of water and honey with grain mash, which is strained immediately after fermentation...

.

Okroshka

Okroshka

Okróshka is a cold soup of Russian origin that is also found in Ukraine. The name probably originates from "kroshit'" , which means to crumble into small pieces....

(Russian: окро́шка) from Russian "kroshit" (крошить) meaning to chop (into small pieces) A type of Russian cold soup with mixed raw vegetables and kvass

Kvass

Kvass, kvas, quass or gira, gėra is a fermented beverage made from black...

.

Pavlova

Pavlova (food)

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. It is a meringue with a crisp crust and soft, light inner. The name is pronounced or , unlike the name of the dancer, which was or ....

A meringue dessert topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit, named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Cakes/Pavlova.htm

Pelmeni

Pelmeni

Pelmeni are dumplings consisting of a filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough that originated in Siberia and is a dish of Russian cuisine. Pelmeni are common in Russia and have similar names in other languages: , pyal’meni; pilmän; , pel’meni; ; .- Ingredients :The dough is made from flour and...

(Russian plural: пельме́ни, singular пельме́нь, pelmen′ from "ear[-formed] bread"). An Eastern European dumpling filled with minced meat, especially beef and pork, wrapped in thin dough and boiled.

Sbiten

Sbiten

Sbiten, also sbiten' is a hot winter Russian traditional drink.- History :First mentioned in Slavonic chronicles in 1128, it remained popular with all strata of Russian society until the 19th century when it was replaced by coffee and tea...

(Russian: сби́тень, also збитень) A traditional Russian honey based drink similar to Medovukha.

Sevruga

Sevruga

Sevruga is one of the highest priced varieties of caviar, eclipsed in cost only by the Beluga and Ossetra varieties. It is harvested from the Sevruga sturgeon native to the Caspian Sea, and may be distinguished from its more expensive cousins by the size of the eggs, which are generally smaller....

(Russian: севрю́га) A caviar from the Sevruga, a type of sturgeon

Sturgeon

Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...

found only in the Caspian

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

and Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

s.

Shchi

Shchi

Shchi is a Russian soup with cabbage as the primary ingredient. Its primary distinction is its sour taste, which usually originates from cabbage. When sauerkraut is used instead, the soup is called sour shchi, and soups based on sorrel, spinach, nettle, and similar plants are called green shchi...

(Russian: щи) A type of cabbage soup.

Political and administrative

Agitprop

Agitprop is derived from agitation and propaganda, and describes stage plays, pamphlets, motion pictures and other art forms with an explicitly political message....

(Russian: агитпроп; blend of Russian агитация agitatsiya "agitation" and пропаганда propaganda "propaganda"; origin 1930s' from shortened form of отдел агитации и пропаганды, transliteration otdel agitatsii i propagandy, ('Department for Agitation and Propaganda'), which was part of the Central and regional committees of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The department was later renamed Ideological Department.)

Political (originally communist) propaganda, especially in art and literature.

Apparatchik

Apparatchik is a Russian colloquial term for a full-time, professional functionary of the Communist Party or government; i.e., an agent of the governmental or party "apparat" that held any position of bureaucratic or political responsibility, with the exception of the higher ranks of management...

plural apparatchiki (Russian: аппара́тчик) [ɐpɐˈrat͡ɕɪk] (from Russian аппарат apparat (name given the Communist Party machine in the former Soviet Union) from Latin

Latin

apparare to make ready).

(chiefly historical) A member of the communist party.
(derogatory or humorous) An official in a large organization, typically in a political one.

Bolshevik

The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....

(Russian Большеви́к) [bəlʲʂɨˈvʲik] (from Russian Больше 'majority' or 'greater' with reference to the greater faction)

(historical) A member of the majority faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party, which was renamed to the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...

after seizing power in the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

in 1917.
(chiefly derogatory) (in general use) A person with politically subversive or radical views; a revolutionary.
(adjective) Relating to or characteristic of Bolsheviks or their views or policies.

Cheka

Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...

(Russian: Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия по борьбе с контрреволюцией и саботажем, acronym for The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Speculation, and Sabotage, abbreviated to Cheka (Chrezvychaynaya Komissiya, ChK; Чрезвычайная Комиссия, ЧК – pronounced "Che-Ka") or VCheka; In 1918 its name was slightly altered to "All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Profiteering and Corruption") The first Soviet state security organization (1917–1922), it was later transformed and reorganized into the GPU.

Commissar

Commissar

Commissar is the English transliteration of an official title used in Russia from the time of Peter the Great.The title was used during the Provisional Government for regional heads of administration, but it is mostly associated with a number of Cheka and military functions in Bolshevik and Soviet...

(Russian комисса́р) (Russian комиссариат commissariat reinforced by medieval Latin

Medieval Latin

Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but also as a language of science, literature, law, and administration. Despite the clerical origin of many of its authors,...

commissariatus, both from medieval Latin commissarius "person in charge" from Latin committere "entrust"' term "commissar" first used in 1918)

An official of the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...

, especially in the former Soviet Union or present day China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, responsible for political education and organization; A head of a government department in the former Soviet Union before 1946, when the title was changed to Minister.
(figurative) A strict or prescriptive figure of authority.

DOSAAF

DOSAAF was a paramilitary society in the Soviet Union, Voluntary Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Fleet . The society was preserved in a number of post-Soviet Republics, e.g., in Russia and Belarus...

(Russian: ДОСААФ, Добровольное Общество Содействия Армии, Авиации и Флоту, abbreviation for Free Will (or Voluntary) Society of Assistance to the Army, Aviation, and the Navy) Name of a military society of the Soviet Union whose aim was to support the Soviet military financially and to prepare reserve troops by the use of paramilitary sports.

Druzhina

Druzhina

Druzhina, Drużyna or Družyna in the medieval history of Slavic Europe was a retinue in service of a chieftain, also called knyaz. The name is derived from the Slavic word drug with the meaning of "companion, friend". -Early Rus:...

also Druzhyna, Drużyna (Russian and Ukrainian: дружина) (Slavic drug (друг) meaning "companion" or "friend" related to Germanic drotiin, Proto-Germanic *druhtinaz meaning "war band") (historical) A detachment of select troops in East Slav countries who performed service for a chieftain, later knyaz

Knyaz

Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....

. Its original functions were bodyguarding, raising tribute from the conquered territories and serving as the core of an army during war campaigns. In Ukrainian, the word дружина means legal wife.

Duma

Duma

A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...

(Russian: Ду́ма) (from Russian word думать dumat', "to think" or "to consider")

(historical) A pre-19th century advisory municipal councils in Russia, later it referred to any of the four elected legislature bodies established due to popular demand in Russia from 1906 to 1917.
The legislative body in the ruling assembly of Russia (and some other republics of the former Soviet Union) established after the fall of coummunism in 1991.

The State Duma

State Duma

The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...

(Russian: Государственная дума (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), common abbreviation: Госдума (Gosduma)) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia

Federal Assembly of Russia

The Federal Assembly of Russia is the legislature of the Russian Federation, according to the Constitution of Russian Federation, 1993...

(legislature), the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia

Federation Council of Russia

Federation Council of Russia ) is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , according to the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation...

Dvoryanstvo singular dvoryanin, plural dvoryane (Russian Дворянство Dvoryanstvo meaning "nobility" from Russian dvor (двор) referring to the court of a prince or duke kniaz and later of the tsar

Tsar

Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

) (historical) Term for the Russian nobility that arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the Russian Revolution.

Dyak (clerk)

Dyak (clerk)

Dyak is a historical Russian bureaucratic occupation whose meaning varied over time and approximately corresponded to the notions of "chief clerk" or "chief of office department"....

Dyachok

Dyachok was a historical name for the category of church workers in the history of Russia and Ukraine who were not ordained, i.e., not included into the official hierarchy of church offices.Among their duties were reading and singing....

(historical) A member of the church workers in Russia who were not part of the official hierarchy of church offices and whose duties included reading and singing.

FSB (Russian ФСБ, Федера́льная слу́жба безопа́сности) (Russiantrans.

Transliteration

Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...

Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti Federal Security Service) The domestic state security of the Russian Federation, the successor of KGB.

Glasnost

Glasnost

Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...

(Russian: Гла́сность [ˈɡlasnəsʲtʲ]; glasnost publicity, from glas voice, from Old Church Slavonic glasu) (late 20th century) An official policy in the former Soviet Union (especially associated with Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...

) emphasizing transparency

Transparency (social)

Transparency is a general quality. It is implemented by a set of policies, practices and procedures that allow citizens to have accessibility, usability, utility, understandability, informativeness and auditability of information and process held by centers of authority...

, openness with regard to discussion of social problems and shortcomings.

Glavlit (Russian acronym for Main Administration for Literary and Publishing Affairs, later renamed Main Administration for the Protection of State Secrets in the Press of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Russian: Главное управление по охране государственных тайн в печати ГУОГТП (ГУОТ), trans.

Transliteration

Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...

Glavnoe upravlenie po okhrane gosudarstvennykh tayn v pechati) (historical) The official censorship and state secret protection organ in the Soviet Union.

GPU also known as OGPU (Russian: Государственное Политическое Управление, transliteration

Transliteration

Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...

Gosudarstvennoye Politicheskoye Upravlenie State Political Directorate) (historical) The secret police of the former Soviet Union from 1922–1934; it succeeded the Cheka

Cheka

in 1922, and it was later reorganized as the NKVD

NKVD

The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....

in 1934.

Kadet (Russian: Конституционная Демократическая партия, The Constitutional Democratic Party or Constitutional Democrats, formally Party of Popular Freedom, informally called Kadets, or Cadets from the abbreviation K-D of the party name [the term was political, and not related to military students who are called cadets]) (historical) A liberal political party in Tsarist Russia founded in 1905, it largely dissolved after the Russian Civil War

Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...

.

KGB

KGB

The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...

(Russian transliteration of "КГБ") (Russian abbreviation of Комите́т Госуда́рственной Безопа́сности, Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, Committee for State Security) (historical) Name of the Soviet Union organization that directed the security agency, secret police, and intelligence agency from 1954 to 1991.

Khozraschyot

Khozraschyot

Khozraschyot or Khozraschet was an attempt to simulate the capitalist concepts of profit and profit center into the planned economy of the Soviet Union....

or Khozraschet (Russian: хозрасчёт, хозяйственный расчёт, literally "economic accounting") A method of the planned running of an economic unit (i.e., of a business, in Western terms) based on the confrontation of the expenses incurred in production with the production output, on the compensation of expenses with the income; often referred to as the attempt to simulate the capitalist concepts of profit into the planned economy of the Soviet Union.

Kolkhoz

Kolkhoz

A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...

plural kolkhozy (1920s origin; Russian contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, kol(lektivnoe) khoz(yaisto) "collective farm")
A form of collective farming

Collective farming

Collective farming and communal farming are types of agricultural production in which the holdings of several farmers are run as a joint enterprise...

in the former Soviet Union.

Konyushy (Russian Конюший) (Russian literally "equerry

Equerry

An equerry , and related to the French word "écuyer" ) is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a Sovereign, a member of a Royal Family, or a national...

" or "master of the horse

Master of the Horse

The Master of the Horse was a position of varying importance in several European nations.-Magister Equitum :...

") (historical) A boyar

Boyar

A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....

in charge of the stables of the Russian rulers, duties which included parade equipage, ceremonies of court ride-offs, and military horse breeding.

Korenizatsiya

Korenizatsiya

Korenizatsiya sometimes also called korenization, meaning "nativization" or "indigenization", literally "putting down roots", was the early Soviet nationalities policy promoted mostly in the 1920s but with a continuing legacy in later years...

also korenization (Russian meaning "nativization" or "indigenization", literally "putting down roots", from the Russian term коренное население korennoye naseleniye "root population")

Kulak

Kulak

Kulaks were a category of relatively affluent peasants in the later Russian Empire, Soviet Russia, and early Soviet Union...

(Russian: кула́к, kulak, "fist", literally meaning "tight-fisted" ) Originally a prosperous Russian landed peasant in czarist Russia, later used pejoratively by Communists during the October Revolution

October Revolution

The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

as an exploiter; they were severeley repressed under the rule of Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

in the 1930s.

Krai

Krai

Krai or kray was a type of an administrative division in the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, and is one of the types of the federal subjects of modern Russia ....

also Kray (Russian: край) (Slavic for "border") Term for eight of Russia's 85 federal subjects, often translated as territory, province, or region.

Leninism

Leninism

In Marxist philosophy, Leninism is the body of political theory for the democratic organisation of a revolutionary vanguard party, and the achievement of a direct-democracy dictatorship of the proletariat, as political prelude to the establishment of socialism...

(after Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

, the term was coined in 1918) The political, economic and social principals and practices of the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, especially his theory of government which formed the basis for Soviet communism.

Lishenets

Lishenets

A lishenets , from Russian word лишение, "deprivation", properly translated in this context as a disenfranchised, was a person stripped of the right of voting in the Soviet Union of 1918 — 1936...

(Russian: лишенец) (from Russian лишение, "deprivation", properly translated as a disenfranchised) (historical) A certain group of people in the Soviet Union who from 1918 to 1936 were prohibited from voting and denied other rights.

MGB

Ministry for State Security (USSR)

The Ministry of State Security was the name of Soviet secret police from 1946 to 1953.-Origins of the MGB:The MGB was just one of many incarnations of the Soviet State Security apparatus. Since the revolution, the Bolsheviks relied on a strong political police or security force to support and...

(Russian: Министерство государственной безопасности, Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti, The Ministry of State Security) (historical) The name of the Soviet secret police agency from 1946 to 1953. It was merged with the MVD in 1953.

Menshevik

Menshevik

The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...

(Russian: Меньшевики) (from Russian word меньшинство menshinstvo "minority" from men'she "less"; the name Menshivik was coined by Lenin when the party was (atypically) in the minority for a brief period) (historical) A member of the non-Leninist wing of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party, opposed to the Bolsheviks who defeated them during the Russian Civil War

Russian Civil War

that followed the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Mir (Russian: мир) (from Russian mir, meaning both "world" and "peace")

(historical) A peasant farming commune in pre-Revolutionary Russia.
Space Station Mir, a space station created by the former Soviet Union and continued by Russia until 2001.

MVD (MVD) (Russian: Министерство внутренних дел) (MVD Russian abbreviation for Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del, Ministry of Internal Affairs) (The Soviet Union secret police from 1946–1953, in 1954 its secret police duties were transformed to the KGB

KGB

, while the reorganized MVD was assigned to direct the regular police functions. Downgraded by Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...

and renamed in 1962 to the "Ministry for the Preservation of Public Order" Ministerstvo okhrany obshchestvennogo poriadka abbreviated MOOP, it was later strengthened by Leonid Brezhnev

Leonid Brezhnev

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...

and renamed in 1968 to its former and now current name)

Namestnik (Russian literally "deputy" or "lieutenant") (historical)

(12th–16th century) An official who ruled a uyezd
Uyezd
Uyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, Russian Empire, and the early Russian SFSR which was in use from the 13th century. Uyezds for most of the history in Russia were a secondary-level of administrative division...

and was in charge of local administration.
(18th-20th century) A type of viceroy in Russia who ruled a namestnichestvo and had plenipotentiary
Plenipotentiary
The word plenipotentiary has two meanings. As a noun, it refers to a person who has "full powers." In particular, the term commonly refers to a diplomat fully authorized to represent his government as a prerogative...

powers.

Narkompros (Russian: Наркомпрос) (Russian Народный комиссариат просвещения, an abbreviation for the People's Commissariat for Enlightening (historical) The Soviet Union agency charged with the administration of public education and most of other issues related to culture such as literature and art. Founded by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution, it was renamed in 1946 to the Ministry of Enlightening.

Narodnik

Narodnik

Narodniks was the name for Russian socially conscious members of the middle class in the 1860s and 1870s. Their ideas and actions were known as Narodnichestvo which can be translated as "Peopleism", though is more commonly rendered "populism"...

s (Russian: plural наро́дники, singular наро́дник) (from Russian narod "people", in turn from expression "Хождение в народ" meaning "going to the people") (historical) The name for Russian revolutionaries (active 1860's to 1880's) that looked on the peasants and intelligentsia as revolutionary forces, rather the urban working class.

NEP

New Economic Policy

The New Economic Policy was an economic policy proposed by Vladimir Lenin, who called it state capitalism. Allowing some private ventures, the NEP allowed small animal businesses or smoke shops, for instance, to reopen for private profit while the state continued to control banks, foreign trade,...

or The New Economic Policy (NEP) (Russian: Новая экономическая политика) (Russian Novaya Ekonomicheskaya Politika or НЭП) (historical) An economic policy instituted in 1921 by Lenin

Vladimir Lenin

to attempt to rebuild industry and especially agriculture. The policy was later reversed by Stalin

Joseph Stalin

.

NKVD

NKVD

(Russian: НКВД, Народный комиссариат внутренних дел, Narodniy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del or People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs) (historical) The secret police agency in the former Soviet Union that absorbed the functions of the former OGPU in 1934. It was merged with the MVD in 1946.

Nomenklatura

Nomenklatura

The nomenklatura were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions in all spheres of those countries' activity: government, industry, agriculture, education, etc., whose positions were granted only with approval by the...

(Russian: номенклату́ра) (Russian nomenklatura, from the Latin nomenclatura meaning a list of names) (historical) In the former Soviet Union, a list of influential posts in government and industry to be filled by Communist Party appointees; collectively the holders of these posts, the Soviet élite.

Obshchina

Obshchina

Obshchina or Mir ) or Selskoye obshestvo were peasant communities, as opposed to individual farmsteads, or khutors, in Imperial Russia. The term derives from the word о́бщий, obshchiy ....

(Russian: общи́на) (Russian obshchiy common, commune) Russian peasant agrarian communities during Imperialist Russia.

Okhrana in full The Okhrannoye otdeleniye (Russian: Охранное отделение) (Russian literally "Protection Section") (historical) The secret police organization (established in the 1860s) for protection of the Russian czarist regimes. It ended with the Bolshevik takeover of Russia in 1917, who set up their own secret police organization called the Cheka

Cheka

.

Okrug

Okrug

Okrug is an administrative division of some Slavic states. The word "okrug" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "district", or "region"....

(Russian: о́круг) (Russian okrug is similar to the German word Bezirk ("district"), both words refer to something "encircled")

In the former Soviet Union, an administrative division of an oblast and krai.
A federal district in the present-day Russian Federation.

Oprichnina

The oprichnina is the period of Russian history between Tsar Ivan the Terrible's 1565 initiation and his 1572 disbanding of a domestic policy of secret police, mass repressions, public executions, and confiscation of land from Russian aristocrats...

(Russian: опри́чнина) (Russian from obsolete Russian word опричь oprich meaning "apart from" or "separate") (historical) Term for the domestic policy of Russian czar Ivan the Terrible.

Oprichnik

Oprichnik

An oprichnik was a member of an organization established by Tsar Ivan the Terrible to govern the division of Russia known as the Oprichnina ....

plural Oprichniki (Russian: опри́чник) (historical) Name given to the bodyguards of Russian ruler Ivan the Terrible who ruthlessly suppressed any opposition to his reign.

Perestroika

Perestroika

Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...

(Russian: Перестро́йка) (Russian perestroika literally "restructuring", the term was first used in 1986) The reform of the political and economic system of the former Soviet Union, first proposed by Leonid Brezhnev

Leonid Brezhnev

at the 26th Communist Party Congress in 1979, and later actively promoted by Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

from 1985.

Podyachy

Podyachy

A Podyachy or podyachiy was an office occupation in prikazes and lesser local offices of Russia in 15th-18th centuries....

(Russian: подья́чий, sometimes подъячий) (Russian from the Greek hypodiakonos, "assistant servant") (historical) An office occupation in prikazes (local and upper governmental offices) and lesser local offices of Russia from the 15th to the 18th century.

Politburo

Politburo

Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...

(Russian politbyuro from polit(icheskoe) byuro "political bureau") (historical) The principal policymaking committee in the former Soviet Union that was founded in 1917; also known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966.

Posadnik

Posadnik

Posadnik was the mayor in some East Slavic cities or towns. Most notably, the posadnik was the mayor of Novgorod and Pskov...

(Russian: поса́дник) (from Old Church Slavic posaditi, meaning to put or place, since originally they were placed in the city to rule in behalf of the prince of Kiev) (historical) A mayor (equivalent to a stadtholder, burgomeister, or podesta in the medieval west) in some East Slavic cities, notably in the Russian cities of Novgorod and Pskov

Pskov

Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...

; the title was abolished in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Praporshchik

Praporshchik

Praporshchik is a rank in the Russian military.-Imperial Russia:Praporshchik was originally a name of a junior commissioned officer rank in the military of the Russian Empire equivalent to ensign...

(Russian: пра́порщик) (from Slavonic prapor (прапор), meaning flag, since the praporshchik was a flag-bearer in Kievan Rus troops) The name of a junior officer position in the military of the Russian Empire (and in the modern Russian Army), equivalent to ensign.

Prikaz

Prikaz

Prikaz was an administrative or judicial office in Muscovy and Russia of 15th-18th centuries. The term is usually translated as "ministry", "office" or "department". In modern Russian "prikaz" means administrative or military order...

(Russian: прика́з)

(historical) An administrative (palace, civil, military, or church) or judicial office in Muscovy and Russia of 15th–18th centuries; abolished by Peter the Great.
In modern Russian, an administrative or military order (to do something).

Propiska

Propiska was both a residence permit and migration recording tool in the Russian Empire before 1917 and from 1930s in the Soviet Union. It was documented in local police registers and certified with a stamp in internal passports....

(Russian: пропи́ска) (Russian full term Прописка по месту жительства, "The record of place of residence", from Russian verb propisiat "to write into" in reference to write a passport into a registration book of the given local office) (historical) a regulation promulgated by the Russian Czar designed to control internal population movement by binding a person to his or her permanent place of residence. Abolished by Lenin, but later reinstated under Stalin in the Soviet Union.

Silovik

Silovik

Silovik is a Russian word for politicians from the security or military services, often the officers of the former KGB, the FSB, the Federal Narcotics Control Service and military or other security services who came into power...

(Russian: силови́к) plural siloviks or siloviki, Russian: силовики) (Russian word for "power"), a collective name for persons or personnel of an organisation which have formal and real power, such as military (usually high-ranked), officers of KGB

KGB

, FSB, MVD, etc.

SMERSH

SMERSH

SMERSH was the counter-intelligence agency in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially founded on April 14, 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Joseph Stalin...

(Russ: СМЕРть Шпионам) (Russian acronym of (smer) t (sh)pionam literally "death to spies") (historical) The popular name for the Russian counterespionage organization responsible for maintaining security within the Soviet armed and intelligence services; it was originally created during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

to deal with traitors, deserters, and spies who undermined or threatened the Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

. It essentially ended in 1946 when its functions were resubordinated to the People's Commissariat of Military Forces (Наркомат Вооруженных Сил, or НКВС).

Soviet

Soviet (council)

Soviet was a name used for several Russian political organizations. Examples include the Czar's Council of Ministers, which was called the “Soviet of Ministers”; a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia; and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union....

(Russian: сове́т) (Russian sovet "council") (historical)

A revolutionary council of workers or peasants in Russia before the Russian Revolution.
An elected local, district, or national council in the former Soviet Union.
(Soviet) A citizen in the former Soviet Union.
(adjective) of or concerning the former Soviet Union.

Sovkhoz

A sovkhoz , typically translated as state farm, is a state-owned farm. The term originated in the Soviet Union, hence the name. The term is still in use in some post-Soviet states, e.g., Russia and Belarus. It is usually contrasted with kolkhoz, which is a collective-owned farm...

plural Sovkhozes (Russian: Совхоз) (Russian Советское хозяйство, (Sov) eckoje (khoz)yaistvo, "soviet farm")

(historical) A state owned farm in the former Soviet Union.
A state owned farm in countries of the of former Soviet Union.

Sovnarkhoz

Sovnarkhoz, , usually translated as Regional Economic Council, was an organization of the Soviet Union to manage a separate economic region....

(Russian: Совнархоз) (Russian Совет Народного Хозяйства, Sovet Narodnogo Hozyaistva, Council of National Economy, usually translated as "Regional Economic Council") (historical) An organization of the former Soviet Union to manage a separate economic region.

Sovnarkom (Russian: Совет Министров СССР) (Russian Sovet Ministrov SSSR, Council of Ministers of the USSR , sometimes abbreviated form Sovmin was used; between 1918 and 1946 it was named the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (Совет Народных Комиссаров СССР, Russian Sovet Narodnykh Komissarov SSSR, sometimes Sovnarkom or SNK shortcuts were used).) (historical) In the former the Soviet Union, the highest executive and administrative body.

Spetsnaz

Spetsnaz

Spetsnaz, Specnaz tr: Voyska specialnogo naznacheniya; ) is an umbrella term for any special forces in Russian, literally "force of special purpose"...

or Specnaz (Russian: Войска специального назначения – спецна́з) or Russian special purpose regiments (Voyska spetsialnogo naznacheniya) A general term for the police or military units within the Soviet Union (later Russian Federation) who engage in special activities. Similar to South African term Commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...

s.

Stakhanovite

Stakhanovite

In Soviet history and iconography, a Stakhanovite follows the example of Aleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov, employing hard work or Taylorist efficiencies to over-achieve on the job.- History :...

(Russian: стахановец) (after Aleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov

Aleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov

Alexey Grigoryevich Stakhanov was a miner in the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor , and a member of the CPSU . He became a celebrity in 1935 as part of a movement that was intended to increase worker productivity and demonstrate the superiority of the socialist economic system.Stakhanov was...

, a coal miner from Donbass noted for his superior productivity; the Soviet authorities publicized Stakhanov's prodigious output in 1935 as part of a campaign to increase industrial output)

(historical) In the former Soviet Union, a worker who was exceptionally hardworking and productive, and thus earned special privileges and rewards
Any exceptionally hardworking or zealous person, often with connotations of excessive compliance with management and lack of solidarity with fellow workers.

Stalinism

Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...

(Russian, the term Stalinism was first used in 1927; the term was not used by Stalin himself, as he considered himself a Marxist-Leninist).

(historical) The political, economic, and social principles and policies associated with Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

during his rule (1924–1953) of the Soviet Union; especially the theory and practice of communism developed by Stalin which included rigid authoritarianism, widespread use of terror, and often emphasis on Russian nationalism.
Any rigid centralized authoritarian form of government or rule.

Stavka

Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...

(Russian: Ста́вка) (historical) The General Headquarters of armed forces in late Imperial Russia and in the former Soviet Union.

Streltsy

Streltsy

Streltsy were the units of Russian guardsmen in the 16th - early 18th centuries, armed with firearms. They are also collectively known as Marksman Troops .- Origins and organization :...

singular strelitz, plural strelitzes or strelitzi (Russian: стрельцы́, singular: стреле́ц strelets "bowman") (historical) Units of armed guardsmen created by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century and later abolished by Peter the Great.

Tovarishch

Tovarishch

Tovarishch or tovarisch is a Russian word meaning comrade, friend, colleague, or ally. In pre-revolutionary Russia also any official's assistant...

also Tovarich (Russian: Това́рищ IPA [tɐˈvarʲɪɕɕ]) (Russian archaic товарищ, tovarishch sense "business companion", often "travelmate", referring to the noun товар tovar "merchandise"); In the former Soviet Union, a comrade; often used as a form of address.

Tsar

Tsar

also Czar, Tzar, Csar, and Zar (Russian: царь) (English pronunciation [zar]; Russian pronunciation is [t͡sarʲ]) (Russian tsar from Latin Caesar
Caesar (title)
Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...

"hairy").

(historical) Title of a Southern Slav ruler as in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

(913–1018, 1185–1422, and 1908–1946) and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

(1346–1371).
(historical) Title for the emperor of Russia from about 1547 to 1917, although the term after 1721 officially only referred to the Russian emperor's sovereignty over formerly independent states.
(latter part of 20th century) A person with great authority or power in a particular area, e.g. drug czar (spelled only as "czar" in this usage).

Tsarina also tsaritsa (formerly spelled czaritsa), czarina, German zarin, French tsarine (Russian: цари́ца) (Russian, etymology from tsar

Tsar

) (historical) The wife of a tsar; also the title for the Empress of Russia.

Tsar

Tsar

evna also czarevna (Russian, etymology from tsar

Tsar

(historical) The daughter of a tsar.
The wife of a tsarevitch.

Tsar

evich also tsesarevich, czarevich, tzarevitch Russian: царе́вич, early 18th century, from tsar

Tsar

+ patronymic

Patronymic

A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...

-evich (historical) The eldest son of an emperor of Russia; the male heir to a tsar.

Tysyatsky

Tysyatsky

Tysyatsky was a military leader in Ancient Rus, who commanded a people's volunteer army called тысяча...

also tysiatsky (Russian: ты́сяцкий) (sometimes translated as dux or Heerzog but more correctly meaning thousandman; sometimes translated into the Greek chilliarch literally meaning "rule of a thousand") (historical) A military leader in Ancient Rus who commanded a people's volunteer army called tysyacha (Russian: ты́сяча), or a thousand.

Ukase

Ukase

A ukase , in Imperial Russia, was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader that had the force of law...

(Russian: ука́з [ʊˈkas] ordinance, edict, from ukazat to show) (pronunciation yoo-kayz), a decree:

(historical) In Imperial Russia, a proclamation or edict of the ruling tsar or tsarina, the Russian government, or a religious leader (patriarch) that had the force of law.
(historical) In the former Soviet Union, a government edict issued by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was a Soviet governmental institution – a permanent body of the Supreme Soviets . This body was of the all-Union level , as well as in all Soviet republics and autonomous republics...

and subject to later ratification by the Supreme Soviet.
In the Russian Federation, a Presidential decree.
Any arbitrary command or decree from any source.

Uskoreniye

Uskoreniye was a slogan and a policy announced by Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on April 20, 1985 at a Soviet Party Plenum, aimed at the acceleration of social and economical development of the Soviet Union...

(Russian: ускоре́ние, literally "acceleration") A slogan and a policy initiated in 1985 by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

which aimed at the acceleration of social and economical development of the Soviet Union.

Yevsektsiya

Yevsektsiya

Yevsektsiya , , the abbreviation of the phrase "Еврейская секция" was the Jewish section of the Soviet Communist party. Yevsektsiya was established to popularize Marxism and encourage loyalty to the Soviet regime among Russian Jews. The founding conference of Yevsektsiya took place on October 20,...

also Yevsektsia (Russian: ЕвСекция) (from the abbreviation of the phrase "Еврейская секция" Yevreyskaya sektsiya) (historical) The Jewish section of the Soviet Communist party that was created in 1918 to challenge and eventually destroy the rival Bund

Bund

- Organizations :* German American Bund, a pro-Nazi pre-World War II organisation* General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia, a political party founded in the Russian Empire* General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland, a political party founded in Poland...

and Zionist parties, suppress Judaism and "bourgeois nationalism" and replace traditional Jewish culture with "proletarian culture." It was disbanded in 1929.

Zampolit A military or political commissar.

Zek

Zek

Zek may refer to:* Zek , a Russian slang term for a prison or forced labor camp inmate* Grand Nagus Zek, a Star Trek character.* Zek, an EverQuest special game server*Achmet Zek, a character from Tarzan the Tiger movie serial...

(Russian abbreviation of ЗаКлючённый (З/К), zaklyuchennyi (Z/K) meaning "incarcerated") (historical) In the former Soviet Union, a person held in a Gulag

Gulag

or in a prison.

Zemshchina

Oprichnina

(from Russian zemlya "earth" or "land") (historical) The territory under the rule of the boyars who stayed in Moscow during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. It was separate from the rule of Ivan's own territory, which was administered by the Oprichnina

Oprichnina

.

Zemsky Sobor

Zemsky Sobor

The zemsky sobor was the first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type, in the 16th and 17th centuries. The term roughly means assembly of the land. It could be summoned either by tsar, or patriarch, or the Boyar Duma...

(Russian: зе́мский собо́р) (Russian assembly of the land) (historical) The first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Zemstvo

Zemstvo

Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...

(Russian: зе́мство) (historical) A district and provincial assembly in Russia from 1864 to 1917.

Religious

Beglopopovtsy

Beglopopovtsy was one of the denominations among the Popovtsy, who belonged to the Old Believers....

also Beglopopovtsy (Russian: Беглопоповцы, translated as "runaway priests") (historical) A denomination of the Old Believers

Old Believers

In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...

which included priests who had deserted the Russian Orthodox Church during the Raskol

Raskol

Raskol |schism]]') was the event of splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in mid-17th century, triggered by the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in 1653, aiming to establish uniformity between the Greek and Russian church practices.-The Raskol:...

.

Bespopovtsy

Bespopovtsy

Bespopovtsy is one of the two major strains of Old Believers, the one that rejects priests and a number of church rites, such as the Eucharist...

also Bespopovtsy (Russian: Беспоповцы, "priestless") A denomination of the Old Believers

Old Believers

which that rejected the priests and a number of church rites such as the Eucharist

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

.

Chlysty also Khlysts, Khlysty (Russian: Хлысты) (invented Russian word Христоверы, transliteration Khristovery, "Christ-believers"; later critics corrupted the name, mixing it with the word хлыст khlyst, meaning "whip") (historical) A Christian sect in Russia that split from the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

in the 17th century and renounced the priesthood, holy books, and veneration of the saints. They were noted for their practice of asceticism

Asceticism

Asceticism describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals...

which included ecstatic rituals.

Doukhobor

Doukhobor

The Doukhobors or Dukhobors , earlierDukhobortsy are a group of Russian origin.The Doukhobors were one of the sects - later defined as a religious philosophy, ethnic group, social movement, or simply a "way of life" - known generically as Spiritual Christianity. The origin of the Doukhobors is...

plural Doukhobors or Doukhabors (also Dukhobory, or Dukhobortsy) (Russian: Духоборы/Духоборцы) (Russian doukhobor literally "spirit wrestlers") A Christian sect, later defined as a religious philosophy, ethnic group, and social movement, which in the 18th century rejected secular government, the Russian Orthodox priests, icons, all church ritual, the Bible as the supreme source of divine revelation, and the divinity of Jesus. Widely persecuted by the Russian Tsarist regimes, many of them immigrated to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

in the late 19th century.

Edinoverie

Edinoverie

Edinoverie is an arrangement between certain Russian Old Believer communities and the official Russian Orthodox State Church, whereby the communities are treated as a part of the normative Orthodox Church system, while maintaining their own traditional rites...

(Russian: Единоверие 'Unity in faith'), the practice of integrating Old Believer communities into the official Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

while preserving their rites. The adherents are Edinovertsy ('People of the same faith').

Imiaslavie

Imiaslavie

Imiaslavie or Imiabozhie , also spelled imyaslavie and imyabozhie, and also referred to as onomatodoxy, is a dogmatic movement which was condemned by the Russian Orthodox Church, but that is still promoted by some affiliated with Gregory Lourie of the "Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church" , and by...

also Imiabozhie, Imyaslavie, Imyabozhie; also referred as Onomatodoxy (Russian: Имяславие) (Russian "those who glorify the name")

Lippovan also Lipovan, Lipovans also Russian Old Believers (Ukrainian: Липовани) A religious sect that separated from the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

in the 17th century.

Molokan

Molokan

Molokans are sectarian Christians who evolved from "Spiritual Christian" Russian peasants that refused to obey the Russian Orthodox Church, beginning in the 17th century...

(Russian: Молока́не, from Russian moloko "milk") A Christian sect which broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church in mid-16th century and rejected many traditional Christian beliefs including the veneration of religious icons, the Trinity

Trinity

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...

, the worship in cathedrals, and the adherence to saintly holidays.

Pomortsy (Russian: Древлеправославная Поморская Церковь)

Popovtsy

Popovtsy

The Popovtsy, or Popovschina , were one of the two principal movements of the Old Believers, which was formed by the end of the 17th century in Russia.-Historical backgrounds:As none of the bishops joined the Old Believers The Popovtsy, or Popovschina (Поповцы, Поповщина in Russian; this name...

also The Popovtsy, or Popovschina (Russian: Поповцы, Поповщина, translated as "priestist people") A branch of the Old Believers

Old Believers

who strived to have priests of their own.

Raskol

Raskol

also Raskolnik Russian: раско́л [rɐˈskol] (Russian meaning "split" or "schism") The schism of the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

that was triggered by the 1653 reforms of Patriarch Nikon

Patriarch Nikon

Nikon , born Nikita Minin , was the seventh patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church...

.

Rogozhskoe Soglasie (name from a Moscow cemetery

Cemetery

A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

called Rogozhskoe cemetery (Russian: Рогожское кладбище) A denomination among the Popovtsy

Popovtsy

Old Believers

.

Skoptzy

Skoptzy

The Skoptsy were a secret sect in imperial Russia. The Skoptsy are best known for practicing castration of men and the mastectomy of women in accordance with their teachings against sexual lust. The movement originated as an offshoot of the sect known as the "People of God" and was first noted...

plural Skopets, also Skoptsy, Skoptzi, Skoptsi, Scoptsy (Russian: скопцы, from Russian meaning "castrated one") (historical) A Russian religious sect that practiced self-castration.

Starets

Starets

A starets is an elder of a Russian Orthodox monastery who functions as venerated adviser and teacher. Elders or spiritual fathers are charismatic spiritual leaders whose wisdom stems from God as obtained from ascetic experience...

(Russian: ста́рец old man, elder) A Russian religious spiritual leader, teacher, or counsellor.

Yurodivy

Yurodivy

Foolishness for Christ refers to behavior such as giving up all one's worldly possessions upon joining a monastic order. It can also refer to deliberate flouting of society's conventions to serve a religious purpose — particularly of Christianity. The term fools for Christ derives from the writings...

(Russian: юродивый, jurodivyj) A form of Eastern Orthodox asceticism in which one intentionally acts foolish in the eyes of men; a Holy Fool.

Znamennoe singing

Znamennoe singing

Znamenny Chant is a singing tradition used in the Russian Orthodox Church. Znamenny Chant is unison, melismatic liturgical singing that has its own specific notation, called the stolp notation...

also Znamenny Chant (Russian: Знаменное пение, or знаменный распев) The traditional liturgical singing in the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

Technical, special

Chernozem

Chernozem , also known as "black land" or "black earth", is a black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus 7% to 15%, and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia...

(Russian: чернозём, черный chernyi 'black' + Slavonic base зем zem 'earth') A dark, humus-rich, fertile soil characteristic of temperate or cool grasslands, especially referring to the soil of the Russian steppes.

Baidarka

Baidarka

Baidarka is the Russian name used for Aleutian style sea kayak. The ancient Unangan name is Iqyax. The word has its origins from early Russian settlers in Alaska. Iqya-x builders who kept the tradition of building skin-on-skeleton boats alive in the 20th century include Sergie Sovoroff.A prominent...

(Russian: байда́рка, a diminutive form of baidar "boat", bairdarka sense "small boat") A type of sea kayak

Sea kayak

A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spraydeck...

originally made by the Aleut people of Alaska.

Elektrichka

Elektrichka

Elektrichka is an informal word for elektropoyezd , a Soviet or post-Soviet regional electrical multiple unit passenger train. Elektrichkas are widespread in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the former Soviet Union....

(Russian: электри́чка, Ukrainian: електри́чка, elektrychka, informal word for elektropoezd Russian: электропо́езд) A type of passenger electric train

Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...

.

Gley

Gley soil

Gley soil in soil science is a type of hydric soil which exhibits a greenish-blue-grey soil color due to wetland conditions. On exposure to the air, gley colors are transformed to a mottled pattern of reddish, yellow or orange patches. During gley soil formation , the oxygen supply in the soil...

(from Russian Глей gley "clay") A blueish-grey sticky clay

Clay

Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

founder under some types of very damp soil.

ITAR-TASS formerly known as TASS

TASS

TASS or Tass may refer to:* Telluride Association Sophomore Seminar, a six-week educational opportunity for minority high school students* Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, TASS is the transliteration of the Russian abbreviation for it...

; (Russian: ИТАР-ТАСС, Информационное Телеграфное Агентство России – Телеграфное Агентство Советского Союза) (ITAR, Russian abbreviation for Information Telegraph Agency of Russia; and TASS, an abbreviation for Telegrafnoe Agentstvo Sovetskogo Soyuza Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union) The official state news agency in the former Soviet Union created in 1918 after the merger of the Petrograd Telegraph Agency (PTA) and the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA); it was named TASS in 1925. The main news agency of the Russian Federation is ITAR-TASS (it was renamed in 1992).

Kalashnikov

AK-47

The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...

Alternative name for the AK-47

AK-47

assault rifle

Assault rifle

An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...

(AK-47 short for Russian: Автомат Калашникова образца 1947 года, Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1947 goda Automatic Kalashnikov rifle, invented by Soviet soldier and small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov

Mikhail Kalashnikov

Lieutenant General Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov is a Russian small arms designer, most famous for designing the AK-47 assault rifle, the AKM and the AK-74.-Early life:...

and first adopted in 1947; the term "kalashnikov" was not used until 1970) An type of rifle

Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

or sub-machine gun of Soviet Union and used in most Eastern Bloc countries during the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

. The term later became associated with nationalist, guerrilla and terrorist groups who use it exclusively or extensively.

Ledoyom
Ledoyom
Ledoyom is a term proposed by the Russian geologist V.P. Nekhoroshev for intermontane depressions which might get completely filled by glaciers from the surrounding mountains at the maxima of glaciation.In the 1930s the Russian geologist V.P...

, intermontane depressions filled with glaciers

Liman

Liman (landform)

Liman is a name for a lake, bay, or estuary formed at the mouth of a river where flow is blocked by a bar of sediments. Liman can be maritime or fluvial .The name is used for such features found along the western and northern coast of the Black Sea, as well as along...

(Russian and Ukrainian: лиман) (from Greek λιμένας "bay" or "port") A type of lake or lagoon

Lagoon

A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...

formed at the mouth of a river, blocked by a bar of sediments, especially referring to such features along the Danube River and the Black Sea

Black Sea

.

Luna

Luna programme

The Luna programme , occasionally called Lunik or Lunnik, was a series of robotic spacecraft missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. Fifteen were successful, each designed as either an orbiter or lander, and accomplished many firsts in space exploration...

also called Lunik, Lunnik (from Russian Луна luna meaning "Moon") A series of robotic spacecraft missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976.

Lunokhod (Russian: Луноход literally "moon walker") A pair of unmanned robotic lunar rovers landed on the Moon in 1970 and 1973 by the Soviet Union.

Marshrutka

Marshrutka

Marshrutka , from marshrutnoye taksi is a share taxi in the CIS countries, the Baltic states, and Bulgaria. Marshrutnoye taksi literally means routed taxicab...

(Russian: маршру́тка, [mərˈʂrutkə]) (Russian from marshrutnoye taxi, Russian Mаршрутное такси, literally "routed taxicab")
A share taxi used in the CIS

CIS

CIS usually refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States, a modern political entity consisting of eleven former Soviet Union republics.The acronym CIS may also refer to:-Organizations:...

and Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

.

Mirovia

Mirovia

Mirovia was a hypothesized superocean which may have been a global ocean surrounding the supercontinent Rodinia in the Neoproterozoic Era, about 1 billion to 750 million years ago. The Mirovia may be essentially identical to, or the precursor of, the hypothesized Pan-African Ocean, which followed...

(Russian: мировой) (from Russian mirovoy, "global", from mir "world) A hypothesized paleo-ocean which may have been a global ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Rodinia

Rodinia

In geology, Rodinia is the name of a supercontinent, a continent which contained most or all of Earth's landmass. According to plate tectonic reconstructions, Rodinia existed between 1.1 billion and 750 million years ago, in the Neoproterozoic era...

in the Neoproterozoic

Neoproterozoic

The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1,000 to 542.0 ± 1.0 million years ago. The terminal Era of the formal Proterozoic Eon , it is further subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran Periods...

Era about 1 billion to 750 million years ago.

Mormyshka

Mormyshka

Mormyshka is a sort of fishing lure or a jig. The word is derived from Russian word Mormysh - that means Freshwater Shrimp ....

also Mormishka, Marmooska (Russian: мормышка) (from Russian mormysh meaning "freshwater shrimp" (Gammaurus) A type of fishing lure

Fishing lure

A fishing lure is an object attached to the end of a fishing line which is designed to resemble and move like the prey of a fish. The purpose of the lure is to use movement, vibration, and colour to catch the fish's attention so it bites the hook...

or a jig.

Podsol

Podsol

In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous, or boreal forests. They are also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia...

also Podzol, Spodosol (Russian под pod "under" and зол zol "ash") Any group of soil

Soil

Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...

s characterized by greyish-white leached and infertile topsoil and a brown subsoil, typically found in regions with a subpolar climate.

Polynia also polynya, polynia (Russian: полынья; [pəlɨˈnʲja]) An non-linear area of open water surrounded by sea ice; especially referring for areas of sea in the Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

and Antarctic

Antarctic

The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

regions which remain unfrozen for much of the year.

Redan

Redan

Redan is a term related to fortifications. It is a work in a V-shaped salient angle toward an expected attack...

(French word for "projection", "salient", after Russian Реда́н redan a local dialect word for a type of fort that was captured by the British during the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

) A type of fortification

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

work in a V-shaped salient angle toward an expected attack.

Rodinia

Rodinia

(from the Russian: родина, "motherland") Name given to hypothesized supercontinent

Supercontinent

In geology, a supercontinent is a landmass comprising more than one continental core, or craton. The assembly of cratons and accreted terranes that form Eurasia qualifies as a supercontinent today.-History:...

said to have existed from 1 billion to 800 million years ago.

Rasputitsa

Rasputitsa

The rasputitsa refers to the biannual seasons when unpaved roads become difficult to traverse in parts of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The word may be translated as the "quagmire season" because during this period the large flatlands become extremely muddy and marshy, as do most unpaved roads...

(Russian: распу́тица) The twice annual season when roads become muddy and impassable in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine due to the melting snows in the spring, and heavy rains in the fall.

Solonchak

Solonchak

Solonchak is pale or grey soil type found in arid to subhumid, poorly drained conditions. The word is Russian for "salt marsh" in turn from Russian sol , "salt"....

(Russian for "salt marsh" from Russian соль, sol "salt") A pale or grey soil-type found in arid to subhumid, poorly drained conditions.

Solonetz

Solonetz

Solonetz is a type of soil in FAO soil classification. They have, within the upper 100 cm of the soil profile, a so-called "natric horizon" . There is a subsurface horizon , higher in clay content than the upper horizon, that has more than 15% exchangeable sodium...

(from Russian Солонцов solonetz "salt not produced by boiling", from Russian соль, sol "salt") An alkaline soil-type having a hard, dark subsoil under a thin friable topsoil, formed by the leaching of salts from a solonchak.

Tokamak

Tokamak

A tokamak is a device using a magnetic field to confine a plasma in the shape of a torus . Achieving a stable plasma equilibrium requires magnetic field lines that move around the torus in a helical shape...

(Russian: Токамак, an abbreviation from the Russian words тороидальная камера в магнитных катушках, transliteration

Transliteration

Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...

toroidal'naya kamera v magnitnykh katushkakh, toroidal chamber in magnetic coils (Tochamac), invented in 1950's) In Nuclear fusion

Nuclear fusion

Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...

, a toroidal apparatus in which plasma

Plasma (physics)

In physics and chemistry, plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms , thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions...

is contained by means of two magnetic fields, a strong toroidal field and a weaker poloidal field generated by an intense electric current through the plasma.

Obsolete Russian weights and measures

Pood

Pood

Pood , is a unit of mass equal to 40 funt . It is approximately 16.38 kilograms . It was used in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Pood was first mentioned in a number of documents of the 12th century....

also pud (Russian: пуд) (largely obsolete) A unit of mass in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine equal to 40 funt (фунт, Russian pound), or approximately 16.38 kilograms (36.11 pounds).

Verst

Verst

A verst or werst is an obsolete Russian unit of length. It is defined as being 500 sazhen long, which makes a verst equal to 1.0668 kilometres ....

(Russian: верста́ versta) An obsolete Russian unit of length or distance defined as being 500 sazhen long, equivalent to 3500 feet (.66 miles/1.0668 kilometres).

Various

These are some other untranslatable Russian terms that have articles in English language Wikipedia.

Banya

Banya (sauna)

Banya in Russian can refer to any kind of steam bath, but usually to the Russian type of sauna. In Bulgarian, banya usually refers to a bath and bathing...

(Russian: баня) A traditional Russian steam bath.

Bayan (Russian: баян) (named after Boyan

Boyan (bard)

Boyan is the name of a bard who was mentioned in the Rus' epic The Lay of Igor's Campaign as being active at the court of Yaroslav the Wise. He is apostrophized as Volos's grandson in the opening lines of The Lay...

, a mythical Slavic bard) A type of chromatic button accordion

Chromatic button accordion

A chromatic button accordion is a type of button accordion where the melody-side keyboard consists of rows of buttons arranged chromatically. The bass-side keyboard is usually the Stradella system or one of the various free-bass systems. Included among chromatic button accordions are the Russian...

developed in Russia in the early 20th century.

Belomorkanal (Russian: Беломорканал)

White Sea – Baltic Canal (Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy Kanal, abbreviated BBK; its original name was Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy Kanal imeni Stalina, "Stalin White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal", the name Stalin was dropped in 1961 and name was abbreviated to Belomorkanal). A ship canal (opened in 1933) that joins the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...

and the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

near St. Petersburg.
Belomorkanal, a brand of cheap Soviet cigarettes.

Beluga

The beluga or white whale, Delphinapterus leucas, is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal. This marine mammal is commonly referred to simply as the beluga or sea canary due to its high-pitched twitter...

: A large kind of sturgeon

Sturgeon

; a type of white whale.

Burlak

Burlak

A burlak was a Russian epithet for a person who hauled barges and other vessels upstream from the 17th to 20th centuries. The word burlak originated from Tatar word bujdak, 'homeless'...

(Russian: Бурлак) (Tatar bujdak "homeless" or old middle-German bûrlach originated from an artel

Artel

Artel is a general term for various cooperative associations in Russia and Ukraine, historical and modern.Historically, artels were semi-formal associations for various enterprises: fishing, mining, commerce, of loaders, loggers, thieves, beggars, etc. Often artels worked far from home and lived...

[арте́ль] or working team with fixed rules)A Russian epithet for a person who hauled barges and other vessels down dry or shallow waterways from the 17th to 20th centuries.

Bylina

Bylina

Bylina or Bylyna is a traditional Russian oral epic narrative poem. Byliny singers loosely utilize historical fact greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole to create their songs...

(Russian: были́на "[tale of] a past event", plural: были́ны byliny) (Adaptation of Old Russian bylina a word that occurred only The Song of Igor's Campaign and taken to mean "tale of a past event"; The term "bylina" came into use in the 1830s as a scholarly name for what is popularly called "starina"; although byliny originated in the 10th century, or possibly earlier, they were first written down about the 17th century) A traditional form of Old Russian and Russian epic and heroic narrative poetry (transmitted orally) of the early East Slavs of Kievan Rus from the 10th to 12th century, a tradition that continued in Russian and Ukrainian history.

Cantonists singular Cantonist (Russian language: Кантонисты; the term adapted from Prussia for "recruiting district") (historical) Boys, often sons of military conscripts, who attended a type of military school called a Canton (Russian: Кантонистские школы), a school that was originally established by Peter the Great; in the 1820s the term was applied to Jewish boys drafted into the Russian army.

Chainik

Chainik

Chainik is a term that implies both ignorance and a certain amount of willingness to learn , but does not necessarily imply as little experience or short exposure time as newbie and is not as derogatory as luser...

(Russian: чайник, "teakettle")

Chastushka

Chastushka

A Chastúshka is a traditional Russian or Ukrainian folk poem which makes use of a simple rhyming scheme to convey humorous or ironic content...

(Russian: часту́шка, from части́ть, 'to speak fast') A traditional type of four-lined Russian poetry that often consists of humor, satire, or irony.

Dacha

Dacha

Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...

(Russian: да́ча) (Russian originally 'gift' or 'something given' (especially from a ruler) A country house or cottage in Russia.

Dedovshchina

Dedovshchina

Dedovshchina is the name given to the informal system of subjection of new junior conscripts, formerly to the Soviet Armed Forces and today to the Russian armed forces, Interior Ministry, and FSB border guards, as well as the military forces of certain former Soviet Republics, to brutalization...

(Russian: дедовщи́на) (from Russian ded "grandfather", Russian army slang equivalent of "gramps", meaning soldiers at their third or fourth half-year of conscription, + suffix -shchina order, rule, or regime; hence "rule of the grandfathers")
A system of hazing

Hazing

Hazing is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group....

in the Soviet and Russian Army.

GUM (Russian: ГУМ, pronounced as goom, in full Главный Универсальный Магазин, Glavnyi Universalnyi Magazin acronym for Main Universal Store) A common name for the main department store in many cities of the former Soviet Union and some post-Soviet states; especially referring to the GUM facing Red Square

Red Square

Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...

in Moscow.

Izba

Izba

An izba is a traditional Russian countryside dwelling. A type of log house, it forms the living quarters of a conventional Russian farmstead. It is generally built close to the road and inside a yard, which also encloses a kitchen garden, hayshed, and barn within a simple woven stick fence...

also Isba (origin 1775–85, Russian izbá, ORuss istŭba house, bath, c. Serbo-Croatian ìzba small room, shack, Czech jizba room, Old Czech jistba, jizdba, all from Slavic *jĭstŭba ≪ VL *extūfa, with short u, perhaps from Germanic *stuba) A traditional log house of rural Russia, with an unheated entrance room and a single living and sleeping room heated by a clay or brick stove.

Junker (Russia)

Junker (Russia)

Junker has several meanings in the Imperial Russia. The word is from the German language, where it means "young lord".*Junker was a military rank for junior officers of dvoryan descent since 1902....

(Russian: Юнкер) (from Middle High German

Middle High German

Middle High German , abbreviated MHG , is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German...

junc herre "young nobleman", from Old High German

Old High German

The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...

jung "young" + herro "lord") (historical) (1864–1917) A student who attended a type of Russian military school called a Junker school. 4. Former rank of a volunteer in the Russian Navy in 19th and 20th centuries.

Katorga

Katorga

Katorga was a system of penal servitude of the prison farm type in Tsarist Russia...

(Russian: ка́торга, from Greek: katergon,κάτεργον galley) (historical) A form of penal servitude in during Tsarist Russia, later transformed into the Gulags after the Bolshevik takeover of Russia.

Khodebshchik

Khodebshchik

Khodebshchik was a person carrying advertisement hoarding, or hawking his wares round the street, or house-to-house salesman, or trading peddle in 16th–19th centuries in Russia....

(Russian: ходебщик) A person carrying an advertisement hoarding, or a peddler

Peddler

A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a canvasser, cheapjack, monger, or solicitor , is a travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used for travellers hawking goods in the countryside to small towns and villages; they might also be called tinkers or gypsies...

.

Mat (Russian: мат, or ма́терный язы́к) Russian profanity and sexual slang

Padonki

Padonki

Padonki is a counter-culture subculture within the Russian-speaking Internet community most famous for using their slang Olbanian language or padonkaffsky jargon...

(Russian: падонки, corrupted подонки, meaning 'riff-raff', 'scoundrel', 'scum') A subculture within the Russian-speaking Internet characterized by choosing alternative spellings for words for comic effect, or to cover up poor knowledge of an Internet slang word.

Palochka

Palochka

Palochka is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. This letter usually has only a capital form, which is also used in lowercase text. The capital form of Palochka often looks like the capital form of the Cyrillic letter Dotted I , the capital form of the Latin letter I , and the lowercase form of the...

(Russian: па́лочка "a little stick") A typographical symbol of the Cyrillic alphabet that looks like the Latin uppercase letter "I".

Preved

Preved

Preved is a term used in the Padonkaffsky jargon, a meme in the Russian-speaking Internet which developed out of a heavily-circulated picture, and consists of choosing alternative spellings for words for comic effect...

(Russian: Преве́д) A Russian Internet slang, corrupted "privet" (привет) ("hi", "greetings").

Sambo

Sambo (martial art)

Sambo is a Russian martial art and combat sport. The word "SAMBO" is an acronym for SAMooborona Bez Oruzhiya, which literally translates as "self-defense without weapons". Sambo is relatively modern since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet Red Army to improve their hand to hand...

(Russian: самбо) (Russian acronym for САМозащита Без Оружия, SAMozashchita Bez Oruzhiya, meaning "self-defense without a weapon")
A modern martial art, combat sport and self-defense system originally developed in the former Soviet Union.

Samizdat

Samizdat

Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...

(Russian: самиздат) (Russian сам sam "self" and издат izdat short for izdatelstvo "publishing house", hence "self published") (historical) In the former Soviet Union, the system by which government-suppressed literature was clandestinely written, printed and distributed; the term also is applied to literature itself.

Sbiten

Sbiten

also sbiten' (Russian: сбитень) A hot Russian drink similar to mead

Mead

and medovukha

Medovukha

Medovukha is an Old Balto-Slavic honey-based alcoholic beverage very similar to mead. These two words are related and go back to the Proto-Indo-European meddhe...

and consumed during the winter.

Sbitenshchik

Sbitenshchik

Sbitenshchik was a sbiten vendor in old Russia. The tradition began in 12th century.The comic opera The Sbiten Vendor by Yakov Knyazhnin with music by Czech composer Antoine Bullant, 1783, was very popular in 18-19th centuries in Russia.- Quotations :“On the lower floor there were shops with...

(Russian: сбитенщик) (historical) A vendor who sold a sbiten, a type of a traditional Russian hot drink consumed during the winter.

Sharashka

Sharashka

Sharashka was an informal name for secret research and development laboratories in the Soviet Gulag labor camp system...

also Sharaga, Sharazhka (Russian: шара́шка IPA: [ʂɐˈraʂkə]) (Russian slang for expression sharashkina kontora "Sharashka's office", possibly from the radical meaning "to beat about", an ironic, derogatory term to denote a poorly organized, impromptu, or bluffing organization)
(historical) Informal name for the secret research and development laboratories in the Soviet Union's Gulag

Gulag

labor camp system.

Tamizdat

Samizdat

Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...

(from Russian tam meaning "there" and izdat short for izdatelstvo "publishing house") In the former Soviet Union, literary works published outside the country without permission of Soviet authorities.

Votchina

Votchina

Votchina or otchina was an East Slavic land estate that could be inherited. The term "votchina" was also used to describe the lands of a knyaz.The term originated in the law of Kievan Rus...

also otchina (Russian: во́тчина (о́тчина) "father's heritage") (historical)

An East Slavic land estate that could be inherited
The land owned by a knyaz
Knyaz
Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....

.

Zaum

Zaum is a word used to describe the linguistic experiments in sound symbolism and language creation of Russian Futurist poets such as Velimir Khlebnikov and Aleksei Kruchenykh....

(Russian: заумь or заумный язык) (from Russian prefix за "beyond, behind" and noun ум "mind") A type of poetry used by the Russian Futurist poets

Russian Futurism

Russian Futurism is the term used to denote a group of Russian poets and artists who adopted the principles of Filippo Marinetti's "Manifesto of Futurism"...

External links

1000 most common Russian words – with English translations
Glossary – Soviet Union

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Common

Cuisine

Political and administrative

Religious

Technical, special

Various

See also

External links