The story
- Proto-Slavic · derived from*kyjь“stick, club, hammer”
- Old East Slavic · derived fromКꙑевъ
- Russian · borrowed fromКи́ев
- English todayKiev
From Russian Ки́ев (Kíjev), from Old East Slavic Кꙑевъ (Kyjevŭ), which folk-etymology derives from the name of city's legendary founder Kyi. Other proposals derive it from Proto-Slavic *kyjь (“stick, club, hammer”) (compare to Russian кий (kij)). See also at the article about Old East Slavic Кꙑевъ (Kyjevŭ).
Words from the same roots
RussianКи́ев all →
Kievan
Old East SlavicКꙑевъ all →
kyiv
Proto-Slavic*kyjь all →
kyiv
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.