babushka

The story

1. Old East Slavic · derived fromбабушка“grandmother, midwife”
2. Russian · borrowed fromба́бушка“grandmother”
3. English todaybabushka

Borrowed from Russian ба́бушка (bábuška, “grandmother”), from Old East Slavic бабушка (babuška, “grandmother, midwife”). First attested in the 1830s.

First known use, by meaning

• from 1830s An Eastern European old woman.
• from 1830s A Russian grandmother.
• from 1930s A traditional floral headscarf worn by an Eastern European woman, tied under the chin.
• from 1940s A Russian doll, a matryoshka.