List of English Words of Russian Origin - Various

Various

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

Banya (Russian: ба́ня) A traditional Russian steam bath.

Bayan (Russian: бая́н) (named after Boyan, a mythical Slavic bard) A type of chromatic button accordion developed in Russia in the early 20th century.

Belomorkanal (Russian: Беломоркана́л)

1. White Sea – Baltic Canal (Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy Kanal, abbreviated BBK; its original name was Беломо́рско-Балти́йский кана́л и́мени Ста́лина 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 with Lake Onega, which is further connected to the Baltic Sea.
2. Belomorkanal, a brand of cheap Soviet cigarettes.

Burlak (Russian: бурла́к) (Tatar bujdak "homeless" or old middle-German bûrlach originated from an artel 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 (Russian: были́на " 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: кантони́сты; 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: кантони́стские шко́лы), 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 (Russian: ча́йник, "teakettle")

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

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

Dedovshchina (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 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 in Moscow.

Izba also Isba (origin 1775–85, Russian изба́ 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) (Russian: ю́нкер) (from Middle High German junc herre "young nobleman", from Old High German 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 (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 (Russian: ходе́бщик) A person carrying an advertisement hoarding, or a peddler.

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

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

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

Sambo (Russian: са́мбо) (Russian acronym for САМозащи́та Без Ору́жия, 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 (Russian: самизда́т) (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 also sbiten' (Russian: сби́тень) A hot Russian drink similar to mead and medovukha which had been consumed during the winter.

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

Sharashka also Sharaga, Sharazhka (Russian: шара́шка IPA: ) (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 labor camp system.

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

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

1. An East Slavic land estate that could be inherited
2. The land owned by a knyaz.

Zaum (Russian: за́умь or зау́мный язы́к zaumnyy yazyk) (from Russian prefix за "beyond, behind" and noun ум "mind") A type of poetry used by the Russian Futurist poets.