Etymologically
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упырь

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Pronunciation

  • [ʊˈpɨrʲ][1]

Forms

упы́рь (upýrʹ) m anim (genitive упыря́, nominative plural упыри́, genitive plural упыре́й, relational adjective упы́рский or упы́рьский or упыри́ный, diminutive упырёк or упы́рик or упы́рчик or упы́рьчик, augmentative упы́рище or упы́рина or упыри́на or упырю́га, pejorative упырю́шка, expressive term (endearing) упы́рюшка)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old East Slavic упирь (upirʹ), from Proto-Slavic, but the Proto-Slavic form is hard to reconstruct: Proto-Slavic *ǫpyrь or *ǫpirь.[2][1] The other forms are Ukrainian упирь (upyrʹ), Belarusian упір (upir), Bulgarian въпир (vapir), Czech upír and Slovak upír; Polish upiór, to judge by its initial ⟨u-⟩, is borrowed from East Slavic.[2]

Brückner and Ilyinsky favour the first form and compare the second part with нетопырь “bat”; others, because of the Old Russian form, prefer the second and connect it with парить “to soar” and перо “feather” (Sobolevsky, Vaillant); Moszyński compares Serbo-Croatian пирати (pirati, “to blow”).[2] Shansky finds the link with the Russian bat's name, with Serbo-Croatian пырац (pyrac, “bat”) and with the verb “to soar” the most likely: the word would first have meant “flyer”, then an owl or bat, the forms in which a sorcerer was believed to roam at night.[3]

A Turkic origin, from Tatar убыр (ubyr, “witch, evil spirit”), related to a verb “to swallow”, was proposed by Miklosich, Preobrazhensky and Mladenov;[2] Vasmer rejects it on phonetic grounds,[2] while Shipova reports that Dmitriev thought the comparison possible, citing the Tatar and Bashkir word in the senses “glutton, witch, evil spirit” and forms with other vowels in Kyrgyz, Kazakh and other Turkic languages.[4] Ushakov's dictionary gives the Tatar word as the source.[5] Sobolevsky held that Vampir comes from Polabian or Old Polish,[2] so that Wiktionary treats вампир as a doublet.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first known as a name: the Novgorod priest Upir Likhoi (Упирь Лихый), recorded in the Book of Prophets under 1047.[2][6] Sreznevsky records упирь for the dead man who rises from the grave and sucks people's blood, and as a term of abuse and a nickname or name.[7]

Semantic evolution

The name remained in use: a peasant Makarik Upir is recorded in 1495, and Klim Upir, a peasant of Ovruch, in 1600.[6] Shipova cites a use as a term of abuse from about 1578.[4] The modern form упырь is in the Academy dictionary of 1847.[8][4] Dal gives it as a southern word, with упирь as the old form, and describes the belief that wicked sorcerers roam as упыри after death until their grave is opened and the body pierced with an aspen stake; in the south it also meant a child with a swollen head.[9]

In the 20th century Ushakov and Efremova also record it for a large bat, the vampire bat,[5][10] and Kuznetsov for a term of abuse.[11]

Timeline

  • 1047 – Упирь Лихый, a Novgorod priest.[6][2]
  • 1495 – the peasant Makarik Upir.[6]
  • c. 1578 – упирь as a term of abuse.[4]
  • 1847 – упырь in the Academy dictionary.[8][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (folklore) A vampire: a dead man who leaves his grave at night and sucks the blood of the living.[12][11][13][1]
  2. (colloquial, derogatory) A cruel, bloodthirsty or hateful person.[11][1]
  3. A large bat, the vampire bat.[5][10]

Word family

  • упырство
  • нетопырь
  • вампир

Usage notes

In the dialects of Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod and Vologda упырь also means “a stubborn person”, probably the same word influenced by упираться “to dig in one's heels”.[14][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 4, 165
  3. ^ Shansky, N. M.; Bobrova, T. A. (2004), Škol'nyj ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka [Школьный этимологический словарь русского языка], 7th ed., Moskva: Drofa, p. s.v. упырь
  4. ^ a b c d e Шипова, Е. Н. (1976), Словарь тюркизмов в русском языке, Alma-Ata: Nauka, p. s.v. упырь
  5. ^ a b c Ushakov, D. N. (ed.) (1935–1940), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4 vols., Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedija / OGIZ, p. s.v. упырь
  6. ^ a b c d Tupikov, N. M. (1903), Slovar' drevne-russkix ličnyx sobstvennyx imen [Словарь древне-русских личных собственных имен], Sankt-Peterburg, p. 408
  7. ^ Sreznevsky, I. I. (1893–1912), Materialy dlja slovarja drevne-russkago jazyka po pis'mennym pamjatnikam [Материалы для словаря древнерусского языка по письменным памятникам], 3 vols., Sankt-Peterburg: Imperatorskaja Akademija nauk, p. 3, s.v. упирь
  8. ^ a b Shaposhnikov, A. K. (2010), Ètimologičeskij slovar' sovremennogo russkogo jazyka [Этимологический словарь современного русского языка], 2 vols., Moskva: Flinta / Nauka, p. 2, 460
  9. ^ Dal', V. I. (1880–1882), Tolkovyj slovar' živago velikorusskago jazyka [Толковый словарь живаго великорусскаго языка], 2nd ed., 4 vols., Sankt-Peterburg / Moskva: M. O. Vol'f, p. s.v. упырь
  10. ^ a b Efremova, T. F. (2000), Novyj slovar' russkogo jazyka. Tolkovo-slovoobrazovatel'nyj [Новый словарь русского языка. Толково-словообразовательный], 2 vols., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. упырь
  11. ^ a b c Kuznetsov, S. A. (ed.) (1998), Bol'šoj tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Большой толковый словарь русского языка], Sankt-Peterburg: Norint, p. s.v. упырь
  12. ^ Ozhegov, S. I.; Shvedova, N. Yu. (1997), Tolkovyj slovar' russkogo jazyka [Толковый словарь русского языка], 4th ed., Moskva: Azbukovnik, p. s.v. упырь
  13. ^ Evgen'eva, A. P. (ed.) (1981–1984), Slovar' russkogo jazyka v četyrex tomax [Словарь русского языка в 4 тт.] (MAS), 2nd ed., Moskva: Russkij jazyk, p. s.v. упырь
  14. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 4, 166
  15. ^ Filin, F. P.; Sorokoletov, F. P.; Myznikov, S. A. (eds.) (1965–), Slovar' russkix narodnyx govorov [Словарь русских народных говоров], vols. 1–51, Moskva / Leningrad / Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka, p. 47, 305