List of English Words of Russian Origin - Technical, Special

Technical, Special

Chernozem (Russian: чернозём, from rus. черный cherniy 'black' + Slavonic base зем zem 'soil') A dark, humus-rich, fertile soil characteristic of temperate or cool grasslands, especially referring to the soil of the Russian steppes. Ukraine is famous as a country of best chernozem.

Baidarka (Russian: байда́рка, a diminutive form of baidar "boat", baidarka sense "small boat") A type of sea kayak originally made by the Aleut people of Alaska.

Elektrichka (Russian: электри́чка, Ukrainian: електри́чка, elektrychka, informal word for elektropoezd Russian: электропо́езд - electrotrain) A commuter electric train.

Gley (from Russian Глей gley "clay") A blueish-grey sticky clay founder under some types of very damp soil.

ITAR-TASS formerly known as TASS; (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 Alternative name for the AK-47 assault rifle (AK-47 short for Russian: Автома́т Кала́шникова образца́ 1947 го́да, Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1947 goda Automatic Kalashnikov rifle, invented by Soviet soldier and small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov and first adopted in 1947; the term "kalashnikov" was not used until 1970) A type of rifle or sub-machine gun of Soviet Union and used in most Eastern Bloc countries during the Cold War. The term later became associated with nationalist, guerrilla and terrorist groups who use it exclusively or extensively.

• Ledoyom, intermontane depressions filled with glaciers

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

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

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

Marshrutka (Russian: маршру́тка, ; Russian from marshrutnoye taxi, Russian Mаршрутное такси, literally "routed taxicab"). A ???share taxi??? used in the CIS and Bulgaria. In Kiev, Ukraine and probably in Russia too this is a public route city microbuses, middle-size and sometimes big buses which go usually faster then ordinary buses and more frequently, but don't have month abonent tickets and have less obligations to carry invalids, pensionaries etc. for free. The word "taxi" is needed to answer the question why it has no as much free-ride obligations as ordinary bus.

Mirovia (Russian: мирово́й) (from Russian mirovoy, "global", from mir "world) A hypothesized paleo-ocean which may have been a global ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Rodinia in the Neoproterozoic Era about 1 billion to 750 million years ago.

Mormyshka also Mormishka, Marmooska (Russian: мормы́шка) (from Russian mormysh meaning "freshwater shrimp" (Gammaurus) A type of fishing lure or a jig.

Podsol also Podzol, Spodosol (Russian подзо́л from под pod "under" and зол zol "ash") Any group of soils 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: полынья́; ) An non-linear area of open water surrounded by sea ice; especially referring for areas of sea in the Arctic and Antarctic regions which remain unfrozen for much of the year.

Redan (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) A type of fortification work in a V-shaped salient angle toward an expected attack.

Rodinia (from the Russian: ро́дина, "motherland") Name given to hypothesized supercontinent said to have existed from 1 billion to 800 million years ago.

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

Solonetz (from Russian солоне́ц 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 (Russian: Токама́к, an abbreviation from the Russian words тороидальная камера в магнитных катушках, transliteration toroidal'naya kamera v magnitnykh katushkakh, toroidal chamber in magnetic coils (Tochamac), invented in 1950's) In Nuclear fusion, a toroidal apparatus in which plasma 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 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 (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).