Word origins

• MedvedeffA transliteration of the Russian surname Медведев (Medvedev).
• MedvezhyeThe name of numerous settlements in Russia, including
• MegionA town in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia.
• MegrelMingrelian, Megrelian
• 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.
• metodichkaInstruction manuals about the right or approved way to talk about specific events for the purposes of propaganda.
• michmanA rank in the navy of Russia or the post-Soviet republics; analogous to a US warrant officer or master chief petty officer.
• microraionA residential complex in a current or former communist country, chiefly one which was previously part of the Soviet Union; a microdistrict.
• Mikoyan cutletA Soviet semiprocessed ground meat cutlet based on the American hamburger patty.
• MileikowskyA transliteration of the Russian surname Милейко́вский (Milejkóvskij).
• militsiaThe police in the Soviet Union and some related or successor states (e.g., modern Belarus).
• mimosa saladA festive salad, popular in the former USSR, made with cheese, eggs, canned fish, onion, and mayonnaise.
• Mineralnye VodyA town in Stavropol Krai, Russia.
• MinusinskA town in Krasnoyarsk Krai of Siberia in the Russian Federation.
• miryachitA nervous disorder said to have been encountered in Siberia, characterized by a jumping tic and the involuntary imitation of the words and actions of other people.
• MnuchinA Jewish surname from Russian.
• MokoshSlavic goddess of fertility, waters and earth mentioned in East Slavic sources
• MolokanA member of a Christian sect that evolved from "Spiritual Christian" Russian peasants who refused to obey the Russian Orthodox Church, beginning in the 1600s in the Russian Empire as an indigenous adaptation of the Protestant movement from Europe. Named for their heresy of eating (including dairy foods), instead of fasting, during Lent.
• moondromeA lunodrome.
• morkovchaA spicy carrot-based salad.
• morozhenoeRussian ice cream.
• MorozoffA transliteration of the Russian surname Морозов (Morozov)
• mother heroineIn the Soviet Union, a woman who gave birth to and raised a large family; awarded as an honorary title.
• Mother RussiaA national personification of Russia as a woman, appearing in patriotic posters, statues, etc.
• Mountainous KarabakhSynonym of Nagorno-Karabakh.
• MozdokA town in Mozdoksky, North Ossetia-Alania, Russia.
• mujikA Russian (male) peasant.
• mumijoSynonym of shilajit.
• nadsatThe Russian-influenced argot used by the teenage protagonists in Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange (1962).
• nagaikaA short, thick braided whip with a round cross-section, used by the Cossacks.
• Nagorno-KarabakhA landlocked region in South Caucasus.
• Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous OblastAn autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union created in the Azerbaijan SSR in 1923 and lasting until 1991.
• naledA particular organophosphate insecticide.
• nalesnikA type of Polish and Eastern European crepe, often eaten cold with jam or cheese.
• nalistnikSynonym of nalesnik in Russian cuisine.
• nalivkaA Slavic sweet fruit or berry liqueur
• NanaiA Tungusic people of China and the Russian Far East
• NarodnikA member of a socially conscious movement of the Russian middle class in the 1860s and 1870s, some of whom became involved in revolutionary agitation against the tsardom.
• nastoykaA Slavic liqueur containing an infusion of herbs and/or fruits in brandy or similar spirit
• NataraA river in Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia.
• naukogradA town or city with exceptional research and development, usually under formal arrangement by the government.
• NaumoffA transliteration of the Russian surname Наумов (Naumov).
• NavalnyA transliteration of the Russian surname Нава́льный (Naválʹnyj).
• near abroadThe other countries and political regions which are in the vicinity of a country or political region.
• NechaevA transliteration of the Russian surname Неча́ев (Nečájev).
• NechayevA transliteration of the Russian surname Неча́ев (Nečájev).
• NegidalA member of a people inhabiting the Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, along the Amgun and Amur rivers.
• NenetsiaAn autonomous okrug of Russia, located in Arkhangelsk oblast, with capital Naryan-Mar.
• nepmanSomeone engaged in private enterprise under Lenin's New Economic Policy in the Soviet Union.
• NestrigaRussian spelling of Nestryha.
• New RussiaSynonym of Novorossiya.
• NezhegolA small river in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, near Ukraine. The town of Shebekino sits near the mouth of the Nezhegol where it flows into the Donets.
• NikolayevkaVery many settlements in Russia, including
• NikolayevoA hamlet in Podbolotye rural settlement, the Raion imeni Babushkina, Vologda Oblast, Northwestern Federal District, Russia.
• NikolayevskFormer name of Nikolayevsk-on-Amur: A town in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, on the Amur River.
• NikolayevskayaA stanitsa, the administrative centre of Nikolayevskaya rural settlement, Naurskaya Raion, Chechen Republic, North Caucasian Federal District, Russia, founded in 1848.
• NikolayevskoyeA village, the administrative centre of Nikolayevskoye rural settlement, Yadrin Raion, Chuvash Republic, Volga Federal District, Russia.
• NikolayevskyA posyolok in Karaulnoye selsoviet, Kamyzyak Raion, Astrakhan Oblast, Southern Federal District, Russia.
• NikolskyA transliteration of the Russian surname Нико́льский (Nikólʹskij).
• NikonovA surname from Russian.
• nilasNewly frozen sea ice in the form of a smooth sheet less than ten centimeters (four inches) thick.
• NinoshkaA female given name from Russian.
• nitchevonever mind; no matter
• NizhnevartovskA city in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia.
• Nizhnyaya PeshaA village in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia.
• Nizhny NovgorodAn oblast and federal subject of Russia.
• Nizhny TagilA city in Sverdlovsk oblast, Russia.
• norditeA rare, light brown, orthorhombic zinc silicate mineral discovered in the Kola peninsula, Russia.
• nostroviacheers (a toast)
• Novaya ZemlyaAn archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia, administered by Arkhangelsk oblast.
• novichokAny of a group of deadly organophosphate nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s to evade restrictions on chemical weapons.
• NovitskyA surname.
• NovoaltayskA town in Altai Krai, Russia.
• NovodvorskyA surname from Russian.
• NovoolkhovkaA village in the Olkhovsky District, Volgograd Oblast, Russia.
• NovorossiyaAn area north of the Black Sea which was conquered by the Russian Empire at the end of the 18th century, located in present-day Ukraine.
• NovosilA town of district significance, the administrative centre of Novosilsky Raion, Oryol Oblast, Central Federal District, Russia, first mentioned in 1155.
• NovozybkovA town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia.
• obrazovanshchinaa class of people with superficial education but without the higher ethics of an educated person
• obrokA rent.
• ObukhovkaThe former name of Bulaqty (a village in Beskol rural okrug, Alakol Raion, Jetisu Oblast, Kazakhstan).
• ObukhovskayaA rural territory of Starooskolsky Urban Okrug, Belgorod Oblast, Central Federal District, Russia. Seat: Obukhovka.
• ObukhovskoyeA rural settlement in Pizhansky Raion, Kirov Oblast, Volga Federal District, Russia. Seat: Obukhovo.
• OctobristA member of the league formed October 1905 in response to imperial policies.
• OganessianA surname from Armenian.
• okanyeAbsence of the form of vowel reduction called akanye.
• OkhranaA secret police force of the Russian Empire.
• oladyiSmall thick pancakes or fritters common in Russian and Ukrainian cuisines.
• Old BelieverAny of those who separated from the official Russian Orthodox Church after 1666 as a protest against the church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652 and 1666. They continue liturgical and ritual practices which predate the reforms.
• OlekmaA tributary of the Lena river in eastern Siberia.
• Olenya GubaA bay, an extension of the Kola Inlet of the Barents Sea, on the Kola Peninsula of Murmansk Oblast, Russia.
• OlenyeA village, the administrative centre of Olenyevskoye rural settlement, Dubovsky Raion, Volgograd Oblast, Russia.
• OlgovkaA hamlet in Rassvetovsky selsoviet, Davlekanovsky Raion, Republic of Bashkortostan, Volga Federal District, Russia.
• OlonetsA variety of the Karelian language mainly spoken in the area between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega.
• omulAny of the salmon-like fish of species Coregonus migratorius (syn. Coregonus autumnalis migratorius), native to Lake Baikal in Siberia
• onomatodoxyThe doctrine that the name of God is God himself.
• operational encirclementa situation of (partial) encirclement where the besieged forces are not yet in imminent danger of destruction or capture, but are unable to organize adequate defence for a longer period of time, especially in such a way that there remains a connection to the rear, which the enemy however can cover with precise artillery fire, severely hampering supply.