Word origins

• kindjalA kind of short sword or dagger used in Russia.
• kinokA member of a 1920s Soviet cinematographer collective.
• Kipchaka member of a nomadic Turkic tribal confederation that overran the Eurasian steppe in mid-11th century.
• KirillitsaThe Cyrillic alphabet.
• KirilovA surname.
• KirsanovA Russian surname.
• kiselA dessert (sometimes consumed as a drink) made from fruit or berry juice and thickened with starch, common in Slavic and Baltic countries as well as Finland and Sweden.
• KislyA transliteration of the Belarusian surname Кі́слы (Kísly).
• KitezhA city in Russian folklore that was believed to have disappeared under a lake, to avoid being conquered by the Mongols.
• KlyazmaA river wholly within Russia, originating near Solnechnogorsk (Moscow Oblast) in the Moscow Uplands, whence it flows into and through Vladimir Oblast, approximately delineating its border with Ivanovo Oblast from near Repniki to near Mstyora, before returning to Vladimir’s interior, and thereafter approximately delineating its border with Nizhny Novgorod Oblast from near the point at which the river is bridged by the Volga Highway (E22) to its confluence with the Oka, whereof it forms a left tributary.
• klyukvaIgnorant stereotypes and tall tales in Western depictions of Russia and Russians.
• knyaginyaA Slavic princess consort.
• koekchuchmale-bodied person who dresses and lives as a woman
• kokoshnikA traditional Russian headdress worn by women and girls to accompany the sarafan.
• kolkhozA farming collective in the former Soviet Union.
• kolkhoznikOne who works on a kolkhoz.
• kolobokA Russian round loaf.
• KolomnaA city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka rivers.
• kolonokThe Siberian weasel or kolinsky (Mustela sibirica).
• KolpakovA surname from Russian.
• kommunalkaA communal apartment in the former Soviet Union, typically shared by several families. Each family has a room and the kitchen, bathroom, and toilet are shared.
• kompromatCompromising material, blackmail material, (real or fabricated) evidence that a person does not want revealed, dirt.
• kontraktnikA voluntary professional soldier of Russia under contract (not a conscript soldier).
• korenizatsiiaAn early policy of the Soviet Union for the integration of non-Russian nationalities into the governments of their specific Soviet republics.
• koreyskaA spicy carrot-based salad.
• korovaiA large, single-piece round or rectangular loaf of bread, elaborately decorated and served at a wedding
• KoscheiAn archetypal male antagonist, described mainly as abducting the hero's wife, and sometimes represented as a skeleton.
• kosovorotkaA traditional Russian skewed-collared shirt.
• kotletaA meat patty or meatball made of ground pork and/or beef flattened into an oval shape, then seasoned and fried or baked.
• KotlinA cross-platform, statically typed, general-purpose object-oriented programming language with type inference, designed to interoperate with Java.
• koulanA subspecies of onager (Equus hemionus), Equus hemionus kulan.
• kovshA Russian ladle or drinking bowl
• kozachokA Ukrainian and Russian couple-dance with constantly increasing tempo.
• KraskinoAn urban-type settlement in Khasansky district, Primorsky Krai, Russia.
• Krasnaya YarugaA raion of Belgorod Oblast, Central Federal District, Russia, established in 1928.
• KrasnogorskA city in Moscow Oblast, Russia.
• KremlSynonym of Kremlin.
• krendelA traditional Russian pastry made from a yeast dough and shaped into a twisted or braided ring.
• kromeskyA kind of Russian croquette wrapped in bacon before deep-frying.
• krouchkaAn old Russian liquid measure, one tenth of a vedro.
• kulichA tall, cylindrical Eastern European Easter bread, traditional in the Orthodox Christian faith.
• KumykA member of a Turkic-speaking ethnic group living predominantly in Dagestan.
• KupianskA city, the administrative centre of Kupiansk urban hromada, Kupiansk Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, founded in 1655.
• KupyankaA village in Popovka rural settlement, Boguchar Raion, Voronezh Oblast, Central Federal District, Russia, founded as a khutor in 1846.
• kurdyukFat from the tail of a fat-tailed sheep.
• Kuril IslandsAn archipelago between Japan and Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the north Pacific Ocean.
• KurkovA surname.
• Kuskokwim RiverA river in Alaska, United States.
• kutiaA ceremonial grain dish with sweet gravy traditionally served mostly by Eastern Orthodox Christians and some Catholic Christians during the Christmas – Feast of Jordan holiday season or as part of a funeral feast.
• KuybyshevSamara, a city in Russia.
• KuzbassA vast coal mining region in Kemerovo Oblast, Siberia, Russia, between Tomsk and Novokuznetsk.
• KuznecovA transliteration of the Russian surname Кузнецов (Kuznecov).
• KuznetskA town in Penza Oblast, Russia.
• kvassA fermented cereal-based low alcoholic beverage, often flavored with fruit, honey and herbs.
• KyakhtaA town, the administrative centre of the Kyakhtinsky District, Buryatia, Russia, on the border between Russia and Mongolia.
• KyzylordaA city in Kazakhstan, the country's capital from 1925 to 1929.
• lapshaA type of pasta noodles similar to vermicelli in Russian cuisine.
• laptaA Russian bat and ball game first known to be played in the 14th century.
• LavrentiyaA rural locality and the administrative center of Chukotsky District of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on Lavrentiya Bay, close to the Bering Strait.
• leadermana foreign (usually Russian) navigator who helps guide an aircraft during its descent
• ledoyomIntermontane depressions which might get completely filled by glaciers from the surrounding mountains at the maxima of glaciation, creating esker-like depressions under the ice.
• leshyA male woodland spirit in Slavic mythology who protects wild animals and forests.
• LeskinA surname from Russian.
• LgovA town in Kursk Oblast, Russia.
• LiptsyA former khutor in Krasnaya Yaruga Raion, Belgorod Oblast, Central Federal District, Russia, disestablished in 2001.
• lishenetsA person deprived of the right to vote in the Soviet Union of 1918–1936, having been classed as an enemy of the working people.
• livenkaA specific variety of accordion used in Russian folk music.
• LockshinA surname from Russian.
• lubokA Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories and popular tales, traditionally used as decoration in houses and inns.
• LukashismThe political and economic system created by Alexander Lukashenko.
• LukomoryeA fictional land in Russian folklore.
• lunodromeA large model of the lunar surface on which spacecraft intended to be launched to the moon are tested, especially in the former Soviet Union.
• lunokhodOne of the Soviet robotic lunar rovers.
• LyubanA town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia.
• mafiyaA Russian mafia organization.
• magnitizdatThe unofficial copying and distribution of audio tape recordings in the Soviet Union that were not available commercially.
• MagnitskyA surname from Russian; especially when referring to Russian tax advisor Sergei Magnitsky
• MakhnovshchinaSynonym of Makhnovism.
• makhorkaA coarse, strong type of tobacco (Nicotiana rustica), especially grown in Russia and Ukraine.
• malchickA young male; a lad.
• MalenkovA surname from Russian; especially when referring to Georgy Malenkov, Soviet politician and rival of Nikita Khrushchev.
• MalkovA transliteration of the Russian surname Малков (Malkov).
• malosolA lightly salted Russian caviar.
• manulA small wild cat of Central Asia, Otocolobus manul.
• marasmaticAn obtuse person who performs and permits behaviours devoid of logic or reason; an imbecile.
• MarkovnikovA surname
• marshrutkaSynonym of shared taxi in former Soviet contexts, particularly a minibus on fixed routes.
• Marxism-LeninismA communist ideological stream that emerged as the mainstream tendency amongst the Communist parties in the 1920s as it was adopted as the ideological foundation of the Communist International during Stalin's era, and was later adopted by the People's Republic of China, Cuba, Vietnam, and several other nations.
• maskirovkaA set of procedures designed to confuse, mislead, and camouflage oneself from the enemy.
• MaslenitsaAn East Slavic festival of pre-Christian origin celebrated during the last week before Lent, seven weeks before Easter; analogous to Shrovetide.
• MatryonaA female given name from Russian.
• MaximoffA surname from Russian
• medovikA type of layer cake made with honey, of Russian origin.
• medovukhaAn Eastern Slavic drink resembling mead.
• MedvezhyeThe name of numerous settlements in Russia, including
• MegionA town in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia.
• MelikovaA female surname from Russian, masculine equivalent Melikov.
• menshevismThe Communist political ideology of the Mensheviks.
• MerkulovA surname from Russian
• mestnichestvoA feudal hierarchical system in Russia from the 15th to 17th centuries.