Where did Russian words come from (4)?

In earlier posts, I looked at 134 words that Russian inherited directly from Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the presumed ancestor of the Indo-European family of languages:

• 27 adjectives, 3 adverbs and 5 numerals. https://languagemiscellany.com/2026/01/where-did-russian-words-come-from/
• 43 verbs https://languagemiscellany.com/2026/02/where-did-russian-words-come-from-2/
• 56 nouns https://languagemiscellany.com/2026/02/where-did-russian-words-come-from-3/

In this post, I cover 36 words not inherited by Russian directly from PIE but mostly inherited from Proto-Baltic, Proto-Slavic or Slavic:

• 7 words inherited from Proto-Balto-Slavic (table 1)
• 20 words that originated in Proto-Slavic (tables 2 and 3)
• 3 words from Slavic occurring only in East Slavic (table 4)
• 2 words borrowed into East Slavic
• 3 words that came into Russian from Old Church Slavonic (OCS), an old form created in the 9^th century reflecting South Slavic used around Bulgaria and Macedonia. Used as a liturgical language since then and a heavy influence on Russian.
• 1 word from Turkic

For consistency with IE-COR, I have used the branch name Slavic throughout this post, instead of the alternative name Slavonic.

Proto-Balto-Slavic

IE-COR classifies 7 Russian words as inherited directly from Proto-Balto-Slavic (table 1).

An asterisk at the start of a word shows that the word is reconstructed, not recorded. All PIE forms are only reconstructed (not recorded) because PIE predates the invention of writing. A question mark before a word shows that there is some uncertainty about the reconstruction.  

Table 1. Russian words from Proto-Balto-Slavic

Among modern languages, the lexemes ‘navel’ and ‘wet’ survive only in Slavic, though Lithuanian pam̃pti and Latvian pauptis (both mening ‘to swell’) are related to *pomp- ‘navel’. Others survive also in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian (‘bite’, ‘hand’, ‘ice’, ‘knee’) or only Latvian and Latgalian (‘bird’).

For ‘bite’, some Slavic languages have forms derived from PIE *gʷreu̯Hg̑ʰ- (Old Church Slavonic grysti, Serbo-Croat /Slovene , gristi Polish gryźć, Slovak hrýzť) or Proto-Slavic *xap- (Bulgarian hapâ and [in one instance] Old Church Slavonic xarati). From that root, Russian still has gryzt’ <грызть> (‘gnaw’).

Russian ruka ‘hand’ also means ‘arm’, perhaps in the other Slavic languages too.

Slavic words from Proto-Slavic

IE-COR classifies 20 Russian words as coming from Proto-Slavic. Their etymology outside Proto-Slavic is uncertain or unknown. Of those words, 8 are found throughout Slavic and the other 12 are distributed more narrowly.

Proto-Slavic words found throughout Slavic

Of the 20 words from Proto-Slavic, 8 are found throughout Slavic and table 2 shows them.

Table 2. Words from Proto-Slavic found throughout Slavic

For ‘Bone’, there may be a link to PIE *h₂ost- which has many descendants in Italic (eg Italian / Portuguese osso, Celtic (eg Breton askorn), Hellenic (Ancient Greek osteon), Albanian (Gheg asht, Arbëresh ash), Armenian (oskor), Indic (of the modern languages only Northwest Pashai aṭu), Iranic (eg Persian ostoxwān, Parthian astag), and extinct Anatolian and Tocharian.

‘Louse’ descends from Proto-Slavic *vŭš- but may also be related to Germanic and Celtic words descending from PIE ?*lū̆-, Baltic (Lithuanian utėlė̃, Latvian uts) and Indic words derived from Vedic yūkā: (eg Hindi jūm̐).

Proto-Slavic words found in only some Slavic languages

Of the words Russian inherited from Proto-Slavic, 12 words are still found in some (but by no means all) Slavic languages (table 3). Their etymology before Proto-Slavic is uncertain or unknown.

Table 3. Proto-Slavic words in Russian and some other Slavic languages.

Comments on table 3:

1. Chest. Russian grud’ derives from Proto-Slavic *grǫd- . Forms from Proto-Slavic *pĭrsĭ exist in Polish pierś and Slovene prsi, and also existed in Old Church Slavonic (prĭsi).
2. Claw. Proto-Slavic *kogŭt- claw has descendants only in Russian kogot’ and Ukrainian kìgot’.
   Forms with this meaning and derived from descendants of IE *h₃neg⁽ʷ⁾ʰ- ‘(finger)nail’ live on in Rusyn nọ́xọt′ and existed in Old Church Slavonic nogŭtĭ. Descendants of IE *h₃neg⁽ʷ⁾ʰ include Russian nogot’, ‘fingernail’ https://languagemiscellany.com/2026/02/where-did-russian-words-come-from-3/
   Proto-Slavic *pazu/or- led to Polish pazur, Slovak pazúr, Sorbian pazora, but the origin and structure are uncertain. PIE *drep- ‘cut off, tear off’ led to Czech dráp. (As noted below, Belarusian drenny ‘bad’ may descend from PIE *der- (‘rip, tear’).
   Serbo-Croat kandža (sometimes pronounced pandža) and Macedonian kand̂a (both meaning ‘claw’) come from Turkish kanca ‘hook’. Slovene krempelj (‘claw’) comes from German Krampel, Krämpel ‘hook’.
3. Cold. Reconstructed Proto-Slavic *xold- ‘cold’ is the source of, for example, Russian holodnyj and Serbo-Croat hladan. Polish zimny (and Kashubian zëmny and Arbëresh Albanian titimë) come from PIE *g̑ʰéi̯-om, *g̑ʰ(i)i̯-ém-, *g̑ʰi-m-´and are related to the widespread Slavic zima (‘winter’). Presumed PIE ?*steu̯d- led to Bulgarian / Macedonian studen, Czech / Slovak studený and Old Church Slavonic studenŭ.
4. Eye. Glaz ‘eye’ is found only in Russian. Etymology uncertain.
   Other Slavic forms are from PIE *h₃ekʷ- (‘catch sight of, behold’), eg Bulgarian / Macedonian / Serbo-Croat / Slovene / Polish / Czech / Ukrainian oko, Belarusian voka, Sorbian woko. Russian has oko, an archaic and poetic word for ‘eye’.
   h₃ekʷ- has descendants in Romance (eg Latin oculus, French oeil, Spanish ojo), Germanic (eg English eye, German Auge), Baltic (eg Latvian acs), Hellenic (Modern Greek máti), Armenian (ačʿkʿ), Indic (eg Hindi āṅkh), Nuristani and Tocharian.
5. Forest. Proto-Slavic *lěs- led to Russian Belarusian / Czech / Slovak / les, Polish las, Ukranian lìs.
   The rest of Slavic has words descending from Proto-Slavic *šum- (Serbo-Croat / Macedonian šuma) or PIE *gʷerH- ‘mountain (Bulgarian gora).
6. Hide. Also in Rusyn (an East Slavic language, see below). Other Slavic languages have words from:
   – PIE *(s)keu̯h₁- ‘to perceive, see’ (eg Polish chować); or
   – PIE *kreu̯H- ‘to heap up; to cover’ (eg Bulgarian kriâ, Slovak ukrývať)
7. Hunt. Also in Rusyn.
   Other Slavic languages have words from:
   – PIE *pleh₂- ‘flat, wide’, via Proto-Slavic *poļe ‘field’ (eg Polish polować).
   – PIE *leh₂u̯- ‘acquire by fighting’ (eg Czech lovit). Russian also has lovit’ < ловить> (‘(try to) catch’). lovit’ is the imperfective member of a suppletive pair. Its perfective partner is poimat’ <>
   According to IE-COR, the derivatives of *leh₂u̯- are unrelated to the derivates of *pleh₂. A relationship is ‘impossible phonetically, morphologically and philologically’. IE-COR says *leh₂u̯- is related to Lithuanian lavùs ‘dexterous’ Greek Attic λεία (*λᾱϝιᾱ), Doric λᾱία ‘gain’, Latin lucrum ‘gain’, Gothic laun, Old High German lôn ‘reward’ and Old Irelandic folad ‘richness’, lúag ‘praise’
8. Shadow. From Proto-Slavic *těn-, found only in East Slavic (including Russian cen′), Polish cień and Slovak tieň. Proto-Slavic *těn- may be derived from (or contaominated by) PIE *temH- ‘dark’ and/or PIE *stei̯h₂- ‘stiffen’.  
   The PIE for ‘shadow’ (*s⁽k̑⁾eH-) developed into Slavic (eg Serbo-Croat sjena and forms in Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene and Sorbian), Baltic, Greek (Ancient and Moden) skía, Indic (eg Kashmiri tshay), Iranic (eg Persian sāyeh) and Tocharian.
   Czech stin (and Old Church Slavonic stěnĭ) from Proto-Slavic *stěn ‘stiffen’.
   It is unclear whether the 3 sources listed above (*těn-; *s⁽k̑⁾eH-; *stěn) go back ultimately to 1, 2 or 3 separate orgins.
9. Skin.  Russian koža is from Proto-Slavic *kož- ‘skin, leather’, further derived from Proto-Slavic koza ‘goat’ originally in the sense ‘goat leather’, perhaps a Turkic loanword.
   Polish skóra is from PIE *skóra ‘to shear, scratch, cut off’ and was borrowed by Belarusian (skura) and Ukrainian (škìra).
10. Stick. The source of Russian palka is Proto-Slavic *pal-, which has descendants in the rest of East Slavic, as well as in Slovak, Slovene and Old Church Slavonic.
    The rest of Slavic has words descending from: PIE *(s)kep- ‘chop, hit’ (Serbo-Croat štap, Macedonian stap); PIE *kuh₂- via Proto-Slavic *kyjь ‘stick, club’ (Polish / Sorbian kij); Middle (low) German kloz (Czech klacek and extinct Polabian); Proto-Slavic *prǫt- (Bulgarian pr″čka).
11. Tail. hvost (‘tail’). Only found in East Slavic and Slovak.
    The rest of Slavic has words descending from: Proto-Slavic *ręp- (Serbo-Croat / Slovene rep); Proto-Slavic *pax- (Bulgarian / Macedonian opaška); Proto-Slavic ?*ocas- (Czech ocas); PIE *gʷʰen- (Polish ogon).
12. Think. dumat ‘think’ is found in only East Slavic.
    The rest of Slavic has words descending from Proto-Slavic *mysliti (a denominal formation from Proto-Slavic *myslь ‘thought, idea’). Russian also has the form myslit’ ‘to reason’.

Slavic words in East Slavic

3 words came from Slavic and occur only in East Slavic, the branch containing Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Rusyn. (table 4)

Rusyn is an East Slavic minority language spoken in and around the Carpathians and surrounding regions, and includes (depending on the dialect) some West and South Slavic features.

Table 4. Slavic words only in East Slavic

Spina (‘back’) may be borrowed from Latin spīna (via Old Polish?) or a cognate of it.
Other Slavic languages have descendants of Proto-Slavic roots *gŭrb- (Bulgarian gr″b and Macedonian grb), *xrĭb- (eg Slovak chrbát), *za-d- (only Czech záda) or PIE *pleth₂ (‘be(come)’ wide’—mainly Polish plecy, see also Modern Standard Greek plátī).

Plohoj (‘bad’) from Slavic *plox- of uncertain etymology.
Other Slavic languages have descendants of Proto-Slavic roots *loš- (Bulgarian / Macedonian loš), *slabъ (‘weak’), Slavic roots *g̑ʰu̯el- (Polish zły, Slovak zlý, Old Church Slavonic zŭlŭ), a West Slavic root *špatn- (Czech špatný, Sorbian špatny), a PIE root *der-, (‘rip, tear’, Belarusian drenny) or an unknown root (Ukrainian poganij).

Horošij (‘good’). Of uncertain etymology.
Other Slavic languages have descendants of PIE dʰeHbʰ- ‘be fitting, suitable’. Examples include Polish dobry, Serbo-Croat dobar.
Russian also has dobrij (‘kind’, ‘good [in greetings, eg good day]’))

East Slavic borrowings

East Slavic borrowed 2 words:

• sobaka <собака> ‘dog’ from Iranic *sabāka- ‘dog’  Loan source lexeme belongs to cognate set: *k̑u̯ón- [Proto-Indo-European], which has descendants in Baltic (Latvian suns, Lithuanian šuõ), Germanic (eg German / Danish Norwegian / Swedish Hund), Italic (eg Latin canis, Italian cane, Portuguese cão, Romanian câine), Celtic ( eg Welsh ci), Hellenic (eg Ancient Greek kýōn) , Armenian šun, Indic (eg Kashmiri hoon), Iranic (eg Persian sag), and extinct Anatolian and Tocharian.
  Other Slavic languages have descendants of Proto-Slavic *pĭs- (‘dog’) or (in Bulgarian and Macedonian) *kuč- (possibly related to Russian kutâ, kutёnok ‘pup’, Hungarian kutya, Turkish küçük ‘pup’).
• frukty   <фрукты> (‘fruit’) from Latin frūctus (from PIE *bʰreu̯H⁽g̑⁾-) possibly via Polish, German or Dutch.
  Other Slavic languages have descendants of Proto-Slavic *ovoť- (meaning and etymology unclear: present in eg Polish owoce, Serbo-Croat voće Old Church Slavonic ovošte) or PIE *sed- (‘sit’).

Sobaka (‘dog’) is found only in Russian, Ukrainian and Belorusian, frukty (fruit) only in Russian and Ukrainian.

Old Church Slavonic

Russian borrowed 3 words from Old Church Slavonic (OCS):

• sladki (‘sweet’) from OCS sladŭkŭ in place of the inherited Russian lexeme солодкий. Like other Slavic languages, OCS has forms inherited from *sal- (‘salt@[Proto-Indo-European], found throughout Slavic and Baltic (Latvian salds, Lithuanian saldùs, Latgalian soldons). Unlike the other Slavic languages (including Standard Macedonian), the Suho and Visoka dialects of Macedonian have blàk, of uncertain origin.
• nebo ‘sky’ from OCS нєбо ‘sky’. The native and phonetically regular form, preserved in Russian dialects and (in the meaning ‘palate’) in standard Russian is nëbo. Like other Slavic languages, OCS has forms inherited from PIE *nebʰ- ‘become damp, cloudy, misty’. PIE *nebʰ- also gave rise to modern forms in Gwened Breton neñb (as well as historical Celtic forms in Old Irish nem, Middle Welsh nef) and Ossetic (Iranic) arv and to historical forms in extinct Anatolian languages (Hittite nēpiš- and Luvian tappaš-).
• oblako ‘cloud’ from OCS oblakŭ (from PIE *h₂u̯elk-, which has descendants in Bulgarian, Macedonian / Serbo-Croat / Slovene / Slovak oblak). OCS oblakŭ also gave rise to Byelorusian voblako

Turkic

One of the 170 words came from Turkic: tuman <туман> (‘fog’). Found only in Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian, and in Iranic (only Yaghnobi)

Most other Slavic (and Latvian) has *h₃mei̯gʰ- [Proto-Indo-European] eg Polish mgla, Czech mlha, Slovak hmla. *h₃mei̯gʰ is also the source of English / Dutch / Flemish mist