Etymologically
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воѥвода

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Forms

воѥвода (vojevoda) m, a-stem[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *vojevoda (“chief, commander”), a compound of Proto-Slavic *vojь (“warrior”) and *voda (“leading”) joined by a linking vowel.[1] Wiktionary analyses the OCS word as вои (“troop, army”) and водити (“to lead”), Vasmer derives it from the words for warrior and army and the verb to lead, and Sadnik and Aitzetmüller list it in both of these word families.[1][2][3][4] The same word is Russian воевода (vojevóda), Bulgarian войвода (vojvóda), Serbo-Croatian vòjvoda, Slovene vójvoda, Czech vévoda, Polish wojewoda and Polabian våjvåda.[2][1]

Meillet proposed that it was a calque of Old High German herizogo (“army leader, duke”), itself held to be a calque of Ancient Greek στρατηγός (stratēgós), but Vasmer calls this unreliable.[2] From Slavic the title passed to Hungarian vajda and Romanian voievod.[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Gospels of the Codex Zographensis and the Codex Marianus it means a governor, for Ancient Greek ἡγεμών (hēgemṓn): ꙇ прѣдъ воеводами • ꙇ ц‹ѣса›ри станете мене ради “and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake” (Mc 13:9).[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The SJS gives two senses: a military leader, for Ancient Greek στρατοπέδαρχος (stratopédarkhos) (A 28:16) and στρατιώτης (stratiṓtēs) (Supr 245:16), and a ruler, governor or prince, for Ancient Greek ἡγεμών (hēgemṓn), στρατηγός (stratēgós), ἡγούμενος (hēgoúmenos) and ἄρχων (árkhōn), said especially of the prefects of Roman provinces and towns.[6][7] The SNSP counts 89 uses, most of them in the Codex Suprasliensis, where it names officials such as Agrippa.[7][8]

In later Church Slavonic it also rendered στρατηγός and στρατοπέδαρχος in liturgical and canonical texts.[5] The Russian Church Slavonic Bible uses it for civil governors and for воевода церковный, the captain of the Temple guard (Lk 22:52, Acts 4:1).[9][10]

Timeline

  • End of the 9th – 11th century – in the church texts of the First Bulgarian Empire it renders στρατηγός, ἡγεμών and ἀρχιστράτηγος.[11]
  • Until the beginning of the 15th century – a Serbian translation from the Rila Monastery uses it for στρατηγός.[11]
  • 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists its New Testament uses for ἡγεμών, στρατηγός and στρατοπέδαρχος.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A military commander, general; for στρατοπέδαρχος, στρατιώτης.[6][7][1]
  2. A ruler, governor, prince, especially a Roman provincial prefect; for ἡγεμών, στρατηγός, ἄρχων.[6][7]

Word family

  • воѥводьство
  • воѥводьскъ
  • вои
  • водити
  • воинъ
  • Russian воевода (vojevóda)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 332
  3. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 327
  4. ^ Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 331
  5. ^ a b Miklosich, Franz (1862–1865), Lexicon palaeoslovenico-graeco-latinum emendatum auctum, Vindobonae: Braumüller
  6. ^ a b c d Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
  7. ^ a b c d e Slovník nejstarších staroslověnských památek (digital ed., Gorazd, Slovanský ústav AV ČR, gorazd.org); cf. Cejtlin, R. M.; Večerka, R.; Blagova, É. (eds.) (1994), Staroslavjanskij slovar' (po rukopisjam X–XI vekov), Moskva: Russkij jazyk
  8. ^ Eckhoff, Hanne M.; Berdicevskis, Aleksandrs et al., TOROT: The Tromsø Old Russian and OCS Treebank, release 20200116, torottreebank.github.io
  9. ^ D'jačenko, Grigorij (1899), Polnyj cerkovno-slavjanskij slovar', Moskva
  10. ^ a b Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg
  11. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de