Words and their origin. The origin of the words of the Russian language: interesting facts that you probably did not know

A selection of Russian words from interesting history origin.

Pharmacy

According to one version, the word "pharmacy" comes from the Greek word "barn", "shelter", "warehouse", "storage" or "shop", according to another version - from the word "coffin", "grave" or "crypt" . Later, the word passed into the Latin language and acquired the meaning of "wine warehouse". Modern meaning the word "pharmacy" was formed only in medieval Latin.

Orange

Until the 16th century, Russians and Europeans did not know about the existence of this citrus. Portuguese sailors brought these fruits from China and began to trade them with their neighbors. Oranges came to Russia from Holland. In Dutch, "apple" is appel, and "Chinese" is sien. Borrowed from the Dutch language, the word "appelsien" is a literal translation of the French phrase "Pomme de Chine" - "an apple from China."

Bohemia

The word has French origin. At the end of the 20th century in Paris, representatives of creative professions lived in the Latin Quarter. The bourgeois called the local inhabitants "gypsies". On the top floor of a house in the Latin Quarter lived the journalist Henri Murger. Once, in one of the tabloid magazines, he was offered to write a series of stories about the inhabitants of the Latin Quarter. These essays were published in 1945 under the title Scenes from the Life of a Gypsy. "Gypsy" in French - "bohemia". Mürger has since been forgotten, and the word "bohemian" still exists today.

Doctor

The word "doctor" is originally Slavic, it is formed from the word "vrati", which means "to speak", "to speak". From the same word comes “lie”, which for our ancestors also meant “to speak”. In the Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian languages, the original meaning of the word "doctor" - "caster", "sorcerer" - has survived to this day.

Hooligan

This word is of English origin. It is known that the surname Houlihan was once a well-known London brawler, who brought a lot of trouble to the inhabitants of the city and the police. The surname has become a household word, in all countries characterizing a person who violates public order.

penal servitude

The Greek word katergon meant a large rowing vessel with a triple row of oars. Later, such a vessel was called a galley. V Old Russian there were many names of ships: “plows”, “rooks”, “uchans”, “boats”. The Novgorod charter mentions boats, poroms and katargs. In the "Russian Chronicle" of Nikon's list we read: "The boyars took the queen, and the noble maidens, and the young wives, let many go in ships and katargas to the islands" ("The boyars took the queen, and noble maidens, and young wives, sent many on ships and ships to the islands"). The work of the rowers on these ships was very difficult, so they began to put criminals on "hard labor". In 1696, creating the Russian fleet, Peter I began to build large hard labor ships in Russia. These ships were also called galleys. On them, rowers put criminals and fugitives, chained to the oars with chains. Pushkin's "History of Peter" contains the decrees of the tsar, where the phrases are often found: "For the first time through the ranks, the second - a whip and galleys", "exile to the galleys." Nordsteth's pre-revolutionary German-French dictionary directly states: "Galley - hard labor." Since then, the word "hard labor" in the modern sense has been preserved, although they no longer referred to galleys, but to Siberia, to hard labor.

Silhouette

In France, during the reign of Louis XV, the royal court lived in unprecedented luxury. Because of this, the treasury quickly emptied, and then the king appointed a new finance minister, Étienne Silhouette, a conscientious and incorruptible official who reduced pensions and destroyed tax privileges. At first, everyone liked this very much, but over time, the young reformer became the subject of general ridicule. The genre of art that arose at that time - a one-color profile picture on a light background - was named by the Parisian wits after the Silhouette and interpreted it as art for the greedy and the poor.

Surgeon

The word came from the lexicon of ancient Greek doctors. It denoted among the Greeks simply "needlework", "craft", from hir - "hand" - and ergon - "to do". The word "surgeon" Greek translated not only as “doctor”, but also as “hairdresser”. In Russia in the 19th century, hairdressers-barbers not only shaved and cut their clients, but also pulled teeth, bled, put leeches and even performed minor surgical operations, that is, they performed the duties of surgeons.

hack-work

Initially, this word was common people, and it meant "easy money in excess of the usual." You can read about the origin of the word in the dictionary of Professor D. N. Ushakov: “Hackwork, from the Greek “halkos” - a copper coin.” Later, the word has an additional meaning. In the dictionary of V. I. Dahl, more than precise definition Russian interpretation: “hack, grabber, bribe-taker, haltyga, windy, fickle person. Trash, grabber (grab), profit, gratuitous food, accumulated money. In our time, derivatives have appeared: “hackwork”, “hackwork”.

In her “Memoirs” about the acting life of the 90s of the century before last, N. Smirnova writes that in Moscow, among the actors, Strastnaya Square was called “hack work”, since actors were “caught” on it:

“It happened that he was immediately given a role in his hands and he read it for the first time on the way to the theater. The word "hack" has since gone into use and is still kept in the actor's lexicon.

Tobacco

Initially, the word "tobacco" penetrated into European languages ​​​​from Haiti. In the Arawakan language, tabak is a plant of the nightshade family, from which a smoking mixture was made. It would seem that it is in this meaning that the word is used now. However, for a while, "tobacco" had a completely different meaning. The word acquired additional meaning in French thanks to the expression “to pass through tobacco” - “passer a tabac” - and remained from the time of the persecution of smokers in France. Until now, the French have the verb "tabasser", which means "to beat." And among the military, "tabac" means "battle" or "business" in the same sense as our "business was near Poltava."

Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy wrote the story "The Manuscript Found Under the Bed". The hero of this story, Sashka Yepanchin, recalling the year 1918 in France: “In their precincts, the policemen - azhans - first of all beat you in the ribs and head with boots, they call it“ pass through tobacco ””.

Rogue

In his transformative activities Peter I had to face the privileged nobility, which did not want to part with their usual way of life, and the tsar's reforms were perceived sharply negatively.

In 1715, Peter I introduced a law according to which the nobles for crimes were deprived of their nobility, their “privileges”, one of which was that the nobles could not be subjected to corporal punishment, simply put, flogging. According to this law, the nobles were "defamed", that is, deprived of their noble dignity, "dishonored" them.

In the language of the Normans, "skelmen" (skelmen) meant "worthy of death", "suicide bomber". Among the Germans, this word turned into “rogue”, which means “rogue”, “swindler”, and in this sense it entered the Russian language.

😉 Greetings to new and regular readers! Friends, the origin of words is a very interesting topic. We rarely think about the origin of the familiar words we use in conversation and writing. But they, like people, have their own history, their own destiny.

The Word can tell us about its parents, about its nationality and about its origin. Etymology is the science of language.

The word (or root) whose etymology is to be established corresponds to related words(or roots). A common generating root is revealed. As a result of the removal of layers of later historical changes, the original form and its meaning are established. I present to you several stories of the origin of words in Russian.

The origin of some words in Russian

Aviation

From Latin avis (bird). Borrowed from French- aviation (aviation) and aviateur (aviator). These words were coined in 1863 by famous Frenchmen: the great photographer Nedar and the novelist Lalandel, who flew in balloons.

Avral

A term common among sailors and port workers. From Dutch overal (get up! everyone up!). Now emergency work is called urgent hasty work on a ship (ship), performed by its entire team.

Scuba

was borrowed from in English. The first part is the Latin aqua - "water", and the second is the English lung - "light". The modern meaning of the word scuba is “an apparatus for breathing a person under water. It consists of cylinders with compressed air and respiratory apparatus».

Scuba gear was invented in 1943 by the famous French navigator and explorer J.I. Cousteau and E. Gagnan.

alley

In Russian, the word "alley" is used with early XVI II v. From French verb aller - "to go, walk." The word "alley" is used in the sense of "a road planted on both sides with trees and shrubs."

Pharmacy

The word is known in Russian already at the end of the 15th century. The Latin apotheka goes back to the original Greek - apotheka, formed from apotithemi - "I put aside, I hide." Greek - apotheka (warehouse, storage).

Asphalt

Greek - asphaltos (mountain resin, asphalt). In Russian, the word "asphalt" has been known since ancient times as the name of a mineral. And from the beginning of the XVI century. the word "asphalt" is found already with the meaning "building material".

Bank

Italian - banco (bench, moneychanger's counter), later "office", randomly from the Germanic languages ​​from bank ("bench").

Bankrupt

The primary source is the Old Italian combination bankca rotta, literally - “broken, broken bench” (counter, office). This is due to the fact that initially the offices of ruined bankers, declared bankrupt, were subjected to destruction.

Banquet

Italian - banketto (bench around the table). In Russian - from the 17th century. Now "banquet" means "a solemn dinner party or dinner."

Wardrobe

It is a borrowing from French, where garderob - from - "store" and robe - "dress". The word came to be used in two senses:

1. dress storage cabinet
2. Storage room for outerwear in public buildings

nonsense

At the end of the last century, the French physician Gali Mathieu treated his patients with jokes. He gained such popularity that he did not have time for all the visits. He sent his healing puns by mail. This is how the word “nonsense” arose, which at that time meant a healing joke, a pun.

Blinds

French - jalousie (envy, jealousy).

Conclusion

Origin of words: where did they come from, from what languages ​​of the world do words come into the Russian language? There are many such languages, but first of all, Greek and Latin should be mentioned.

Of these borrowed a large number of terms, scientific and philosophical vocabulary. All this is not accidental. Greek and Latin are very ancient languages ​​of highly cultured peoples that have greatly influenced the culture of the whole world.

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Have you ever wondered how many words from any phrase we utter belong to the language of which we are all speakers? And does the foreign always sound so obvious that it cuts the ear with its dissent? Let's talk about the origin of words in Russian as if we were getting to know them for the first time - and in fact, in fact, this is how it is.

Among archaeological researchers, it has long been accepted as an axiom that our Slavic ancestors, in the number of innumerable genera, covered the territory from the Pacific coast to the very north of Italy with the area of ​​\u200b\u200bits settlement. Of course, there were no number of dialects of that time, but the foundation, no doubt, was laid not in the modern Cyrillic alphabet, but in the original Slavic - ancient Aryan writing.

The Old Church Slavonic language was never primitive, but it always reflected the essence, not indulging in eloquence. The use of words was reduced to twelve components of the full and free transmission of any information, feelings, sensations:

1. The name of the elements of the human (animal) body, internal organs, structural features: hump, liver, leg;
2. Temporal indicators, with units of time intervals: morning, week, year, spring;
3. Natural and natural phenomena, various natural objects: drifting snow, wind, waterfall;
4. Name of plants: tavern, sunflower, birch;
5. Fauna: bear, minnow, wolf;
6. Ancillary household items: an ax, a yoke, a bench;
7. The concepts included in creative thinking: life, decency, glory;
8. Verb concepts: know, save, lie;
9. Characterizing concepts: old, greedy, sick;
10. Words indicating the place and time: here, at a distance, side;
11. Prepositions: from, on, about;
12. Conjunctions: and, but, but.

In any language, be it Old Germanic or Vedic Slavic, the Word originally had an essence extracted from the image it created. That is, the original meaning of any word was created on the basis of known concepts:

• astra \u003d Ast (star) + Ra (sun god) \u003d Star of the sun god Ra;
• kara = Ka (spirit of death) + Ra = deceased divine principle (in man).

However, with the acquisition of new concepts, new images also came. As a rule, these images brought ready-made names with them.

For example, the word "cream" - "cr? me”- in this form, it came to us from France, and meant a lot of whipped cream with some kind of fruit syrup ... or shoe polish of a thick, homogeneous consistency.

Another borrowing condition implies a convenient substitution of a verbose concept for a one-word one.

Imagine the familiar and simple word "case", which came to us from German language(Futteral) and translated as "lined case". In Slavic literal it would sound like "storage box". Of course, in this situation, the “case” is much more convenient and capacious to pronounce. The same goes for “glass” - “bocal” from French - a tall vessel for wine in the form of a glass.

It is impossible to deny the influence of fashion trends on the preferred use of more euphonious words. After all, the “bartender” somehow sounds more solid than just the “bartender”, and the “piercing” procedure itself seems to be something different and more modern than the banal “piercing”.

But, far stronger than even the trend of foreignness, had on the original Russian his closest ancestor, Church Slavonic, which entered everyday life in the 9th century, as an example of writing in Russia. Echoes of it reach to the ears modern man, characterizing its affiliation, the following features:

• letter combinations: “le”, “la”, “re”, “ra” in a prefix or root, where in the current sound we pronounce: “here”, “olo”, “oro”. For example: head - head, before - before;
• the letter combination "zhd", later replaced by "zh". For example: alien - alien;
• the primary sound "u", then identified with "h": power - to be able;
• The first letter "e" is where we can use "o": once - once.

It is worth mentioning that the related Slavic languages ​​closest to us left a noticeable imprint in word mixing, often replacing the Old Russian originals: a pumpkin for a tavern, a shirt for a shirt.

In addition to the facts already mentioned, the 8th century, with its active trade and military movement, had a huge impact on the original Russian language. The first language reformers, therefore, turned out to be for the entire ancient Slavic people:

• Scandinavians (Swedes, Norwegians);
• Finns, Ugrians;
• Germans (Danes, Dutch);
• Turkic tribes (Khazars, Pechenegs, Cumans);
• Greeks;
• Germans;
• Romans (as native speakers of Latin).

We don't often think about how the words we use came into being and how their meanings may have changed over time. Meanwhile, words are quite living beings. New words appear literally every day. Some do not linger in the language, while others remain. Words, like people, have their own history, their own destiny. They can have relatives, a rich pedigree, and vice versa, be complete orphans. The Word can tell us about one's nationality, about one's parents, about one's origin. The study of the history of vocabulary and the origin of words is engaged in interesting science- etymology.

Railway station

The word comes from the name of the place "Vauxhall" - a small park and entertainment center near London. The Russian Tsar, who visited this place, fell in love with it - in particular, the railway. Subsequently, he commissioned British engineers to build a small railway from St. Petersburg to his country residence. One of the stations on this section railway called "Vokzal", and this name later became the Russian word for any railway station.

Hooligan

The word bully is of English origin. According to one version, the surname Houlihan was once worn by a famous London brawler, who caused a lot of trouble for the residents of the city and the police. The surname has become a household name, and the word is international, characterizing a person who grossly violates public order.

Orange

Until the 16th century, Europeans had no idea about oranges at all. Russians, even more so. We don't grow oranges! And then the Portuguese navigators brought these delicious orange balls from China. And they began to trade with their neighbors. In Dutch, "apple" is appel, and "Chinese" is sien. Borrowed from the Dutch language, the word appelsien is a translation of the French phrase Pomme de Chine - "an apple from China."

Doctor

It is known that in the old days they were treated with various conspiracies and spells. An ancient healer would say something like this to a sick person: “Go away, sickness, to the quicksands, to the dense forests ...” And he muttered over the sick different words. The word doctor is originally Slavic and is derived from the word “vrati”, which means “to speak”, “to speak”. Interestingly, from the same word comes “lie”, which for our ancestors also meant “to speak”. It turns out that in ancient times doctors lied? Yes, but this word initially did not contain a negative meaning.

Scammer

Ancient Russia did not know the Turkic word "pocket", because money was then carried in special wallets - purses. From the word "purse" and produced "swindler" - a specialist in thefts from scrotums.

A restaurant

The word "restaurant" means "strengthening" in French. This name was given in the 18th century to one of the Parisian taverns by its visitors after the owner of the establishment, Boulanger, introduced nutritious meat broth to the number of dishes on offer.

Shit

The word "shit" comes from the Proto-Slavic "govno", which means "cow" and was originally associated only with cow "cakes". "Beef" - "cattle", hence "beef", "beef". By the way, from the same Indo-European root and English title cows - cow, as well as the shepherd of these cows - cowboy. That is, the expression "fucking cowboy" is not accidental, it has a deep family connection.

Heaven

One version is that Russian word"heaven" comes from "not, no" and "demon, demons" - literally a place free from evil/demons. However, another interpretation is probably closer to the truth. Most Slavic languages there are words similar to "heaven", and they came, in all likelihood, from Latin word"cloud" (nebula).

Slates

In the Soviet Union, a well-known manufacturer of rubber slippers was the Polymer plant in the city of Slantsy. Leningrad region. Many buyers believed that the word “Slates” squeezed out on the soles was the name of the shoe. Next, the word entered the active vocabulary and has become synonymous with the word "slippers".

nonsense

In the late 17th century, the French physician Gali Mathieu treated his patients with jokes. He gained such popularity that he did not keep up with all the visits and sent his healing puns by mail. This is how the word “nonsense” arose, which at that time meant a healing joke, a pun. The doctor immortalized his name, but at present this concept has a completely different meaning.

Speaking on mother tongue, we rarely think about how the words we use came into being and how their meanings may have changed over time. Etymology is the name of the science of the history of vocabulary and the origin of words.

New words appear literally every day. Some do not linger in the language, while others remain. Words, like people, have their own history, their own destiny. They can have relatives, a rich pedigree, and, on the contrary, be complete orphans. A word can tell us about its nationality, about its parents, about its origin... So, another "portion" of words with a history of origin.

Money

If today, speaking the word "money", we first of all remember Western currencies, then money in Russia definitely had Eastern roots. This word could have entered the Russian language in two different ways. From Iranian merchants and travelers, who then used silver coins called “tenge” (cf. Persian dāng “coin”), or from the Tatar-Mongols, who conquered the territory of present-day Russia a little later for a long time.

Moreover, the source of this root in the Turkic languages, which include the Mongol-Tatar dialect, could be three different things. Firstly, the supreme heavenly deity of the Turkic-Mongolian pantheon is Tengri. Secondly, the collection of money from trade transactions - tamga (originally "brand", "seal"). From there, by the way, our customs came out. And thirdly, the Turkic coin tängä, whose name, with the help of a suffix, was formed from the word “tän”, which means a squirrel. In this case, an analogy can be drawn with old Russian word"kuna" (marten), which was called 1/22 hryvnia. This reflects the functioning of furs in the role of money in the early stages of the development of society.

Young woman

It would seem that everything is very simple: the girl is from the virgin. But if you dig deeper, it turns out that the Proto-Slavic *děva originates in the Proto-Indo-European word *dhē(i̯), which means "to suck, feed with the help of the breast." In this, by the way, she is close to children (children), who come from the same root. From there, the old Russian verb "to reach" - "to breastfeed."

Guy

It's not so easy with guys either. This word, most likely, came from the Proto-Slavic *parę - a diminutive nickname from parobъkъ (here you can recall the Ukrainian lad), going back to "rob" (boy).

The original root here is *orbę, which also gave "child" and "slave", which developed from one of the meanings of the word "rob" - "orphan", since, according to some sources, it was originally the orphans who did the hardest work around the house.

Dinner

Russian words denoting meals have a fairly transparent logic of education. Breakfast came from the combination "in the morning", denoting a period of time - "during the morning."

Lunch was formed from the ancient prefix *ob- and the root *ed- and meant, in general, ... "to overeat." Indeed, according to the rules of normal nutrition in our latitudes, lunch should be the most abundant meal.

It may seem that dinner is when all things are ALREADY redone and you can start eating. Dahl hints at this in his dictionary, but still the word "dinner" comes from the old Russian "ug", that is, "south". And all because they sat down to supper when the sun moved from east to south.

Pillow

Scientists have been struggling with this word for several centuries. Dahl suggests that the pillow is what is placed UNDER THE EAR. Vasmer, Shansky and Chernykh are sure that this is something that is stuffed with something (down, feathers, cotton wool and even holofiber, be it wrong). There are also less serious, but more emotional versions of the origin of this word: 1) what they cry into when they need to pour their SOUL, and 2) what they choke

Fool

They say that fools in their most common meaning now were born thanks to Archpriest Avvakum. So in the 17th century, in his writings, he called rhetoricians, philosophers, logicians and other "advocates of demonic wisdom", comparing them with buffoons.

However, the root from which this word comes was already ready to take on the corresponding meaning. Philologists believe that the “fool” came from the Proto-Indo-European *dur (bite, sting) and at first meant “bitten”, “stung”, then transformed into “mad, crazy, sick” (from a bite) and only then turned into “bad, stupid." By the way, the ritual of initiation into buffoons also has something to do with this. According to one version, a candidate for jesters before the start of his professional activity should have survived the bite of a viper.

Bee

Who would have thought that a bee and a bull are relatives. And if from the point of view of biology they are very far from each other, then philologically they are brother and sister.

The fact is that they come from the same Proto-Slavic root, which denoted the sound of a certain character. Hence, by the way, the outdated word "buzz" (buzz, buzz) and a bug. The bee itself in Old Russian was written like this - bechela, but after the fall of the reduced ones and the stunning of B in front of Ch, it acquired its current appearance.