Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.
| agitprop | pro-communist agitation and propaganda. |
| apparat | the structure, mechanism, etc. of an organization, especially a political one. |
| apparatchik | a member of the APPARAT. |
| artel | a Russian workers' guild. |
| astatki | the residue of petroleum distillation, used as fuel. |
| ataman | a chief of the Cossacks. Also HETMAN. |
| babushka | a triangular headscarf tied under the chin; a grandmother. |
| baidarka bidarkee bidarka baidar | an Alaskan Inuit kayak. |
| balalaika | a Russian musical instrument. |
| banya | a Russian sauna bath. |
| barometz | a fabulous Russian creature, half plant and half sheep; the inverted woolly caudex etc. of the tree-fern Cibotium barometz, which was used to create the illusion of such a creature. |
| bashlik bashlyk | a Russian hood with long ends. |
| beluga | the white whale; the sturgeon. |
| bistro | a small bar or restaurant > BISTROS. |
| blini bliny | in Russia, a small buckwheat pancake. |
| bolshevik | a violent revolutionary. Hence BOLSHIE. |
| borsch borsht bortsch borscht borshch | cold beetroot soup. |
| borzoi | a kind of wolf-hound. |
| boyar boyard | a member of the old Russian aristocracy, abolished by Peter the Great. |
| boyarism | rule by the BOYARS, the old Russian aristocracy. |
| brunizem | a prairie soil. |
| bura buran | in central Asia, a blizzard blowing from the North, or a summer wind from the North that causes dust storms. |
| caracul karakul | a sheep of Central Asia; the curled black fleece of its lambs. |
| carlock | a sort of Russian isinglass, made from the air bladder of the sturgeon, and used in clarifying wine. |
| cesarevna tsesarevna | the wife of a tsar's eldest son. |
| cheka | the Russian secret police. |
| chekist | a member of the CHEKA, the Russian secret police. |
| chernozem tschernosem | a very fertile soil of sub-humid steppe. |
| chinovnik | a high official in the Russian civil service. |
| copeck kopek kopeck | a Russian monetary unit. One hundred copecks make a rouble, worth about sixty cents. |
| cossack | a Russian cavalryman. |
| coulibiac couliabaca koulibiaca | a Russian dish of flaked fish and semolina baked in pastry. |
| czar tsar tzar | a ruler, emperor. |
| czarevich tsarevich | the wife of a TSAR. |
| czarina czaritsa czaritza tsarina tzarina | the empress of Russia. |
| czarevna tzarevna | the proper title for the daughter of a czar. |
| dacha datcha | a Russian country house. |
| dessiatine dessyatine desyatin dessyatin | a measure of land. |
| dolina doline | a typically funnel-shaped basin in a karstic region. |
| douma duma | the Russian parliament. |
| droog | a violent hooligan, from 'A Clockwork Orange'. [Russian drug, friend]. |
| droshky drosky | a low, four-wheeled, open carriage used in Russia. |
| dumaist | a member of the DUMA, the Russian parliament. |
| dvornik | a Russian concierge or porter. |
| feldsher feldschar feldschar | in Russia and Eastern Europe, a partly trained doctor, or one who assists a doctor on the battlefield. |
| glasnost | the policy of openness and forthrightness under the premiership of Mikhail Gorbachev. |
| glei gley | a sticky clay soil. |
| golomynka | a very oily fish found in Lake Baikal. |
| gopak hopak | a high-leaping folk-dance from the Ukraine. |
| gospoda gospodin | a Russian address, equivalent to Mr. |
| guberniya | a territorial division of imperial Russia. |
| gulag | the system of political prisons and forced labour camps in the USSR. [Russian Gulag, acronym from Glavnoe Upravlenie ispravitel'no-trudovykh LAGere (Chief Administration for Corrective Labour Camps)]. |
| gusli gusla gusle | a one-stringed Balkan musical instrument. {GUSLA is the Bulgarian form and GUSLE the Serbian form]. |
| guslar | a performer on the GUSLA, a one-stringed Balkan musical instrument. |
| intelligentsia intelligentzia | the intellectual or cultured classes, orig. in Russia. |
| isba | a Russian log hut. |
| izvestia izvestiya | news, information. |
| jarovize | to hasten the flowering of a plant. [Russ. yarovizatsiya, f. yarovo, spring-sown]. |
| kalashnikov | a sub-machine gun made in the former USSR. |
| kasha | a porridge or gruel-like dish made from crushed buckwheat. |
| katorga | penal servitude, hard labour, esp. in the labour camps of Stalin. |
| kazachok kazatzka kazatski kazatsky | a Russian folk dance > KAZACHKI; KAZATZKAS; KAZATSKIS; KAZATSKIES. |
| keta | a Pacific salmon, the dog-salmon. |
| kibitka | a tent used by the Kirghiz Tartars. |
| kissel | thickened fruit purée dessert. |
| knout | to flog; to scourge. |
| kolhoz kolkoz kolkhos kolkhoz | a collective or co-operative farm in the former USSR. |
| kolinski kolinsky | a kind of Northern Eurasian mink > KOLINSKIES. |
| kompromat | documents, photographs, etc that may be damaging to a person's reputation, kept as a potential tool for blackmail. |
| kopiyka | a monetary unit of the Ukraine > KOPYIYOK or KOPIYKAS. |
| koumis kumiss koumys koumiss kumis | an intoxicating fermented or distilled liquor originally made by the Tartars from mare's or camel's milk. |
| krai kray | a Russian administrative district. |
| kremlin | a Russian citadel. |
| kubasa | a Ukrainian sausage. |
| kulak | in Russia, a rich peasant > KULAKS or KULAKI. [Russian kulak, fist]. |
| kurgan | a prehistoric burial mound. |
| kvas kvass quass | an Eastern European rye beer. |
| laika | a breed of small reddish-brown working dog. |
| mammoth | an extinct species of elephant. |
| maskirovka | use of deception or camouflage as military stratagem. |
| matroyshka matryoshka | a hollow wooden doll > MATRIOSHKI; MATROYSHKAS or MATROYSHKI; MATRYOSHKI. |
| mazout mazut | petroleum residue after distillation. |
| mir | a Russian peasant farming commune. |
| moujik mujik muzhik muzjik | a Russian peasant. |
| nomenklatura | office-holders and managers in a communist regime. |
| oblast | a political subdivision of a republic in the [former] USSR > OBLASTS or OBLASTI. |
| osetra ossetra | a type of caviar. |
| osseter | a species of sturgeon. |
| pashka paska paskha/B> | a rich Russian dessert, traditionally served at Easter. |
| pavlova | a type of dessert consisting of a meringue base topped with whipped cream. [From the dancer Anna Pavlova]. |
| perestroika | the period of reconstruction in Russia under Mikhail Gorbachev. |
| pierogi perogi perogie perogy pyrogy pyrhohy | a small dumpling with a filling. |
| pirog | a large Russian pie, stuffed with meat, fish, eggs, or cabbage > PIROGI, PIROGHI, PIROGEN. |
| pirogi | (Pl.) PIROG, a large Russian pie, stuffed with meat, fish, eggs, or cabbage. 2. as a singular, a dumpling with a filling, with plural PIROGIES. Also PIEROGI. |
| pirojki piroshki pirozhki | a small Russian pastry made with meat or cabbage filling. Also PIROSHKI, PIROZHKI. |
| podsol podzol | a leached soil formed in cool, humid climates. Also PODZOL. |
| pogrom | a violent, anti-Semitic attack on a Jewish village or area; (verb) to massacre. |
| politburo | the policy-making committee in communist states > POLITBUROS. |
| polynia polynya | an area of open water amidst sea ice, as in the Arctic. |
| pood | a Russian weight, equal to forty Russian pounds or about thirty-six English pounds avoirdupois. |
| proso | a variety of millet > PROSOS. |
| puschkinia | a genus of spring-flowering bulbous plants native to western Asia. [From A. Mussin-Puschkin]. |
| pysanka | a hand-painted Ukrainian Easter egg. |
| refusenik refusnik | a Soviet Jew wishing to emigrate; a dissident. |
| rendzina | a fertile soil-type derived from calcium-rich bedrock. |
| riza | an ornamental silver plate covering a Russian icon. |
| rouble ruble | a Russian monetary unit. |
| rusalka | a Russian water-nymph. |
| saffian | brightly-coloured goatskin or sheepskin leather. |
| saiga | an antelope native to the plains of Siberia and Eastern Russia. The male has erect annulated horns, and tufts of long hair beneath the eyes and ears. |
| samizdat | in the former Soviet Union, the clandestine circulation of underground literature. |
| samovar | a tea-urn. |
| samoyed | a Siberian breed of dog. |
| sarafan | the national dress of Russian peasant woman. |
| sastruga | long parallel ridges of snow that form on windy plains > SASTRUGI. Also ZASTRUGA. |
| sazhen | a unit of length formerly used in Russia, equal to 7 feet (2.13 m). |
| seecatch | an adult male Aleutian fur seal > SEECATCHIE. |
| sevruga | a species of sturgeon found in the Black Sea. [Russ. sevyruga]. |
| shaman | a priest of the type of religion which once prevailed among all the Ural-Altaic peoples (Tungusic, Mongol, and Turkish), and which still survives in various parts of Northern Asia. |
| shashlik shashlick shaslik | a type of lamb kebab. |
| shchi shtchi | a kind of cabbage soup. |
| sierozem | a type of soil. |
| solonchak | a pale or grey soil type found in arid to subhumid, poorly drained conditions. |
| solonets solonetz | an alkaline soil-type having a hard dark subsoil under a thin friable topsoil. |
| souslik suslik | a ground squirrel. |
| soviet | any of a number of elected local, district, or national councils in the former USSR with legislative and executive functions. |
| sovkhoz | a Soviet state-owned farm > SOVKHOZY or SOVKHOZES. |
| soyuz | a Soviet spacecraft > SOYUZES. |
| spetsnaz spetznaz | a select military unit in the former Soviet Union. |
| sputnik | an orbiting spacecraft. |
| starets staretz | an Eastern Orthodox spiritual advisor. |
| starosta | a village headman; a Polish noble holding a STAROSTY or domain bestowed by the crown. |
| starosty | a castle and domain conferred on a STAROSTA, a Polish nobleman for life. |
| steppe | one of the vast plains in Southeastern Europe and in Asia. |
| sterlet | a small sturgeon found in the Caspian Sea. |
| strelitz | a soldier of the ancient Muscovite guard or Russian standing army; also, the guard itself > STRELITZI or STRELITZES. [Russ. strelets, archer]. |
| stroganoff | of meat, cut thinly and cooked with onions. [From Count Pavel Aleksandrovich Stroganov (1772—1817), Russian diplomat]. |
| taiga | subarctic Siberian evergreen forest. |
| tarantas | a low four-wheeled carriage used in Russia > TARANTASES. Also TARANTASS. |
| tarantass | a low four-wheeled carriage used in Russia > TARANTASSES. Also TARANTAS. |
| telega | a four-wheeled springless wagon. |
| terek | a kind of sandpiper, named for the river Terek in Russia. |
| tokamak tokomak | a toroidal device used in fusion. |
| tovarich tovarisch tovarish | friend, comrade. |
| troika | a carriage drawn by three horses. |
| ukase | a proclamation by a Russian emperor or government having the force of law. [Russian ukazat, to show, order]. |
| urman | swampy pine forest. |
| uvarovite | a green lime-chrome garnet. [From Count S. S. Uvarov, a Russian minister of education]. |
| vaivode voivode waivode waiwode | originally, the title of a military commander in various Slavonic countries; afterwards applied to governors of towns or provinces. |
| varenyky | Ukrainian stuffed dumplings. |
| verst verste | a unit of distance equal to approximately 2/3 of a mile. |
| vodka | an alcoholic drink. |
| volost | a local government district in Russia. |
| vozhd | a supreme leader in Russia. |
| yourt | a felt tent used by Mongolians. Also YURT. |
| yuft | a kind of Russian leather. |
| yurt | a Mongolian tent made of felt > YURTS or YURTA. Also YOURT. |
| zakuska zakouska | a hors d'oeuvre; a snack > ZAKUKSKI, ZAKOUSKI. |
| zastruga | long parallel ridges of snow that form on windy plains > ZASTRUGI. Also SASTRUGA. |
| zek | in the USSR, an inmate of a prison or labour camp. |
| zemstvo | an elected local administrative council in Czarist Russia > ZEMSTVA or ZEMSTVOS. |
| ziganka | a Russian country dance. |