Old Church Slavonic words from Proto-Slavic
75 Old Church Slavonic words with Proto-Slavic in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
а
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *a (“but, and”), a word of every Slavic language. The same word is Russian а (a), Bulgarian а (a), Serbo-Croatian a, Czech a and Polish a. As a contrastive particle…
азъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *azъ (“I”), from Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂. Derksen reconstructs the Indo-European form as *h₁eǵ-H-om, through Proto-Balto-Slavic *eʔź-um. The oblique cases come…
аще
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *aťe. Sadnik and Aitzetmüller, following Meillet, trace the Proto-Slavic form to a combination of Proto-Indo-European *āt and *ke, the second part being the same as…
без
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *bez (“without”), a preposition of all the Slavic languages; Polabian has it only as a prefix in place names. The same word is Russian без (bez), Ukrainian без…
блаженъ
Used as an adjective, it is the past passive participle from Old Church Slavonic блажити (blažiti, “to call blessed”), which became an adjective "blessed". Vasmer glosses блажити as "to call…
бо
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *bo (“for”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *ba, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰo. The same word is Polish bo (“for, because”), Ukrainian бо (bo, “because”) and Czech bo…
богъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *bogъ (“god”), a word of every Slavic language. The same word is Russian бог (bog), Ukrainian біг (bih), Bulgarian бог (bog), Serbo-Croatian bȏg, Slovene bọ̑g…
бꙑти
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *byti (“to be”), found in all the Slavic languages. The same word is Russian быть (bytʹ), Serbo-Croatian biti, Slovene bíti, Czech být, Polish być, Upper Sorbian…
великъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *velikъ (“great, big”). The same word is Russian великий (velíkij), Ukrainian великий (velýkyj), Bulgarian велик (velík), Serbo-Croatian vèlik, Slovene vélik, Czech…
видѣти
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *viděti (“to see”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *weiˀdēˀtei. The same verb is Russian видеть (videtʹ), Ukrainian видіти (vydity), Bulgarian видя (vidja), Serbo-Croatian…
въ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *vъ(n) (“in, into”), a preposition and prefix. The same word is Russian в (v), Czech v, Polish w, Serbo-Croatian u and Slovene v, with a fuller form in Russian во…
възѧти
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *vъzęti (“to take”), the verb *ęti (“to take”) with the prefix *vъz- (“up”); within Old Church Slavonic it is the prefix въз- with ѩти. The same word is Russian…
вꙑ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *vy (“you (plural)”), the pronoun of the second person plural. The same word is Russian вы (vy), Ukrainian ви (vy), Bulgarian вие (vie), Serbo-Croatian vȋ, Slovene…
вьсь
1. The pronoun “all” is inherited from Proto-Slavic *vьśь (“all”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *wišas, from Proto-Indo-European *wi-so-s, which Wiktionary derives from *wí (“apart, in two”). Derksen…
вѣдѣти
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *věděti (“to know”). The same word is Russian ведать (vedatʹ), Slovene vẹ́dẹti, Czech věděti and Polish wiedzieć. The first person вѣдѣ is an old perfect with the…
глаголати
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *golgolati (“to speak”), formed with *-ati from Proto-Slavic *golgolъ (“speech, word”), the source of the noun глаголъ. ESJS points out that the direction of…
господь
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *gospodь (“lord, master”), usually explained as an earlier *gostьpodь from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstipotis (“lord of guests, host”). The same word is Russian…
градъ
1. The word for a fortified place or town is inherited from Proto-Slavic *gordъ (“fortification, town”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *gárdas, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰordʰ-os, a derivative of…
да
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *da. The same word is Russian да (da), Bulgarian да (da), Serbo-Croatian да (da), Slovene da and Polish da, as a conjunction “so that, that”, an optative particle…
дати
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *dati (“to give”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *dṓˀtei, from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”). The same verb is Russian дать (datʹ), Serbo-Croatian dati, Slovene…
дроугъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *drugъ (“companion, friend; other”), a word of all the Slavic languages. The same noun is Russian друг (drug, “friend”), Bulgarian друг (drug), Serbo-Croatian drȗg…
же
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *že (“emphatic particle; and, but”). The same word is Russian же (že, “but, and; emphatic particle”), Czech že (“that”) and Polish że (“that”); it also survives in…
землꙗ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *zemľa (“earth, soil; land”), with an epenthetic l from earlier *zemja. The same word is Russian земля (zemlja), Ukrainian земля (zemlja), Bulgarian земя (zemja)…
и
1. The conjunction is inherited from Proto-Slavic *i (“and”), a word found in every Slavic language. The same word is Russian и (i), Serbo-Croatian i, Slovene in, Czech i and Polish i; in several…
иже
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *jь že (“who”), the pronoun Proto-Slavic *jь with the particle *že, in OCS и with же. In the other Slavic languages the same compound became relative pronouns, as…
имѣти
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *jьměti (“to have”), a verb of every Slavic language. The same verb is Russian иметь (imetʹ), Bulgarian имам (imam), Serbo-Croatian imati, Slovene iméti, Czech mít…
имѧ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *jьmę (“name”), a noun of all the Slavic languages, first of the n-stems, which several of them later moved to the o-stems. The same word is Russian имя (imja)…
инъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *jьnъ (“other, another”), also reconstructed as *(j)inъ. The same word is Russian иной (inoj), Ukrainian інший (inšyj), Bulgarian ин (in), Serbo-Croatian ȉn…
ити
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *jьti (“to go”), a verb of every Slavic language. ESJS, with most handbooks, writes the Proto-Slavic infinitive *iti; the zero grade, the form Derksen and…
како
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *kako (“how”), beside the pronoun Proto-Slavic *kakъ (“what kind of”) (OCS какъ). The adverb is found throughout Slavic: Russian как (kak), Bulgarian как (kak)…
къ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *kъ(n) (“to, towards”). The same preposition is Russian к (k), Czech k, Slovak k, Polish ku, Serbo-Croatian k, Slovene k, Bulgarian към (kǎm) and Macedonian кон…
къто
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *kъto (“who”), the pronoun stem Proto-Slavic *kъ with the particle *-to, as in чьто. The same word is Russian кто (kto), Ukrainian хто (xto), Serbo-Croatian tko…
ли
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *li, an enclitic particle of all the Slavic languages: Russian ли (li), Ukrainian ли (ly), Bulgarian ли (li), Serbo-Croatian li, Slovene li, Czech li, Polish li and…
мои
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *mojь (“my”), a word of every Slavic language. The same word is Russian мой (moj), Bulgarian мой (moj), Serbo-Croatian mȏj, Slovene mọ́j, Czech můj and Polish mój…
молитва
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *modlitva (“prayer”), formed with the suffix *-tva from Proto-Slavic *modliti (“to pray”); within Old Church Slavonic it is молити with the suffix -тва. The same…
молити
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *modliti (“to ask, to pray”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *maldī́ˀtei. The same word is Russian молить (molitʹ), Bulgarian моля (molja), Serbo-Croatian mòliti and…
мощи
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *mogti (“to be able”), a verb of all the Slavic languages. The same word is Russian мочь (močʹ), Bulgarian мога (moga), Serbo-Croatian moći, Slovene móči, Czech…
мꙑ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *my (“we”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *mes. The same pronoun is Russian мы (my), Ukrainian ми (my), Serbo-Croatian mi, Slovene mi, Czech my, Slovak my, Polish my and…
мѣсто
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *město (“place”), a word of all the Slavic languages, where it first meant a place or space set aside for something. The same word is Russian место (mesto)…
на
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *na (“on, onto”), a preposition of all the Slavic languages. The same word is Russian на (na), Bulgarian на (na), Serbo-Croatian na, Slovene nà, Czech na, Slovak…
народъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *narodъ (“people”), a word of every Slavic language except Polabian. The same word is Russian народ (naród), Bulgarian народ (naród), Serbo-Croatian národ, Slovene…
нашь
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *našь (“our”). The same word is Russian наш (naš), Ukrainian наш (naš), Bulgarian наш (naš), Serbo-Croatian nȁš, Slovene naš, Czech náš, Slovak náš, Polish nasz and…
не
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *ne (“not”), found in every Slavic language as the particle that negates a clause or part of it. The same word is Russian не (ne), Serbo-Croatian ne, Slovene ne…
ни
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *ni (“nor, not”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *nei, from Proto-Indo-European *nei. The same word is Russian ни (ni), Bulgarian ни (ni), Serbo-Croatian ni, Czech ni and…
нъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *nъ (“but”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *nu, from Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”). The same word is Russian но (no), Ukrainian но (no), Bulgarian но (no) and…
нꙑнѣ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *nyně (“now”), beside a form with a reduced root vowel, *nъně. The same word is Russian ныне (nyne), Ukrainian нині (nyni), Bulgarian нине (nine), Czech nyní and…
о
1. The preposition is inherited from Proto-Slavic *o(b) (“around, about”). ESJS takes Proto-Slavic *ob as the base form, at times *obь: OCS has об in a few phrases, and о arose from it when the…
онъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *onъ (“he, it, that”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *anas. The same word is Russian он (on), Ukrainian він (vin), Serbo-Croatian ȍn, Slovene òn, Czech on and Polish on…
отъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *otъ (“from”), found in all the Slavic languages with the meaning "from" in space and time. The same word is Russian от (ot), Ukrainian від (vid), Bulgarian от…
отьць
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *otьcь (“father”). The same word is Russian отец (otec), Bulgarian отец (otec), Serbo-Croatian òtac, Czech otec and Polish ojciec. The Proto-Slavic word is a…
пакꙑ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *pakъ (“again”); ESSJa sets up *pako and *paky beside it. The same word is Bulgarian пак (pak), Macedonian пак (pak), Serbo-Croatian pak, Czech pak, Polish pak…
по
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *po (“after; by; at, on”), a preposition of every Slavic language, which everywhere governs the accusative and the locative, and in several languages the dative…
прити
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *prijьti (“to approach; to arrive, come”), from the prefix *pri- and *jьti (“to go”); in OCS it is при + ити. The same verb is Russian прийти (prijti), Ukrainian…
рабъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *orbъ (“servant, slave”), which gave forms in ra- in South Slavic and in ro- in East and West Slavic. The same word is Bulgarian раб (rab), Macedonian раб (rab)…
ради
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *radi (“for the sake of”). The same word is Russian ради (radi), Ukrainian ради (rady), Serbo-Croatian radi and Slovene radi, and prefixed forms are Bulgarian…
рещи
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *reťi (“to say”), in Derksen's spelling *rekti. The same verb is Russian речи (rečí) (dialectal and archaic), Ukrainian ректи (rektý), Bulgarian река (reká)…
рѫка
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *rǫka (“hand, arm”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *ránkāˀ. The same word is Russian рука (ruka), Ukrainian рука (ruka), Bulgarian ръка (răka), Serbo-Croatian rúka…
самъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *samъ (“self; same; alone”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *sāmas, from Proto-Indo-European *somHós. The same word is Russian сам (sam), Ukrainian сам (sam), Bulgarian…
свои
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *svojь (“one's own”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *swajas, derived from Proto-Indo-European *swós, from *swé. The same word is Russian свой (svoj), Ukrainian свій…
свѧтъ
It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *svętъ (“holy, sacred”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *śwentas, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwentos, a formation from the root *ḱwen- (“holy”). The same word is Russian…