Etymology and origin of the Old Church Slavonic word родъ
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Inherited
- First attested
- Codex Zographensis and Codex Marianus (Gospels)
- Inherited from
- Proto-Slavic *rodъ
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Balto-Slavic *radás
Forms
родъ (rodŭ) m, u-stem[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *rodъ (“birth, origin, clan, family, yield”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *radás.[1][2] The same word is Russian род (rod), Ukrainian рід (rid), Bulgarian род (rod), Serbo-Croatian rȏd, Slovene rọ̑d, Czech rod and Polish ród.[3][2] Derksen takes "birth" as the basic sense, from which "origin, clan, family" developed, but notes the sense "yield, harvest, fruit" too, and compares Russian урожай (urožaj, “harvest”).[2] Wiktionary lists Finnish rotu and Romanian rod among the words taken from Slavic.[1]
Its closest relatives are in Baltic: Latvian rads (“relative, kin”) and raža (“rich harvest”), and Lithuanian rasmė̃ (“harvest”).[3][4][2] Vasmer also links Church Slavonic редъ (redŭ, “food”) by ablaut, and further, with Lidén, Sanskrit verbs meaning "to grow, increase" and Ancient Greek ὀρθός (orthós, “upright”).[3] Sadnik and Aitzetmüller, after Fraenkel, add radīt (“to give birth, produce”), and refer to Persson and Fraenkel for its possible wider Indo-European connections.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Gospels of the Codex Zographensis and the Codex Marianus it renders Ancient Greek γενεά (geneá, “generation”), as in о роде невѣрⸯнъ ꙇ развраштенъ "O faithless and perverse generation" (L 9, 41), and Ancient Greek γένος (génos, “descent, kind”), as in сѵрофѵник҄иссанꙑн҄и родомь "a Syrophoenician by birth" (Mc 7, 26).[5][6]
Semantic evolution
The SJS orders its senses from birth (отъ рода "from birth", for ἐκ γενετῆς), crop or fruit (for γέννημα, Hab 3, 17), descent and origin, family and relatives, tribe and nation (for ἔθνος, J 18, 35), generation, kind or sort (Mc 9, 29), nature (for φύσις in the Euchologium) and kinship.[5][6] The phrases добра рода, блага рода render εὐγενής "of noble birth" (L 19, 12).[5][6] In the Codex Suprasliensis родъ огньнꙑи "fiery родъ" means hell, for Ancient Greek γέεννα (géenna) (Supr 514, 3), and a Gospel variant has it at Mc 9, 43.[5][6] Vasmer explains this sense as a misunderstanding of the translators, who heard in γέεννα the medieval Greek γέννα (génna, “birth”).[7] Later Church Slavonic kept the word: Giltebrandt lists it for γενεά, γένος, συγγενής, ἔθνος and συγγένεια,[8] and Sedakova notes the liturgical senses "sex" (for φῦλον) and "generation", as in изъ рода въ родъ.[9]
Timeline
- End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – the word renders γένος, γονή and συγγένεια in the Euchologium Sinaiticum.[10]
- 14th century – the Serbian Athonite translation of Gregory of Nyssa uses it for γένος.[10]
- 1882–1885 – Giltebrandt lists its New Testament uses for γενεά, γένος and ἔθνος.[8]
Meanings
Noun
- birth; for γενετή.[5][6][1]
- Fruit, crop, harvest; for γέννημα.[5][6]
- Descent, origin; for γένος, φύσις.[5][6]
- family, relatives; for συγγενεῖς, συγγένεια.[5][6][1]
- tribe, nation, people; for γένος, ἔθνος.[5][1]
- generation, race; for γενεά.[5]
- Kind, sort, genus; for γένος.[5]
- Nature, character; for φύσις.[5]
- Kinship; for συγγένεια.[5]
- In родъ огньнꙑи: hell, Gehenna; for γέεννα.[5][6]
Word family
- народъ
- родьство
- родьнъ
Related words
- родити
- раждати
- родитель
- богородица
- Russian род (rod)
Usage notes
The SJS has a second родъ, the island of Rhodes (Ῥόδος), once, in the Apostolos manuscript it cites as Christ (A 21, 1).[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 437
- ^ a b c Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 490–491
- ^ a b Sadnik, Linda; Aitzetmüller, Rudolf (1955), Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchenslavischen Texten, Heidelberg: Winter / 's-Gravenhage: Mouton, p. 295
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
- ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 3, 491
- ^ a b Gil'tebrandt, P. A. (1882–1885), Spravočnyj i ob''jasnitel'nyj slovar' k Novomu Zavetu, 6 vols., Sankt-Peterburg
- ^ Sedakova, O. A. (2005), Slovar' trudnyx slov iz bogosluženija: cerkovnoslavjano-russkie paronimy, Moskva: Grēko-latinskij kabinet Ju. A. Šičalina
- ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Родъ.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/cu/%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%8A. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.
Last edited on . ·