Etymology

kyiv

K5Y4I1V4

Today it means: The capital city of Ukraine and regional administrative centre of Kyiv Oblast. Full definition →

Old East Slavic Кꙑевъ ← Proto-Slavic *kyjь
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The story

  1. Proto-Slavic · derived from*kyjь“stick, club, hammer”
  2. Old East Slavic · derived fromКꙑевъ
  3. English todayKyiv

Transliteration of Ukrainian Ки́їв (Kýjiv), from Old East Slavic Кꙑевъ (Kyjevŭ), traditionally said to derive from the name of city's legendary founder, Kyi. Other proposals derive it from Proto-Slavic *kyjь (“stick, club, hammer”) (compare to Ukrainian кий (kyj)). See also at the article about Old East Slavic Кꙑевъ (Kyjevŭ).

Words from the same roots

Old East SlavicКꙑевъ all →

kiev

Proto-Slavic*kyjь all →

kiev

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.