Meanings
- not comparableDenoting an alphabet devised for writing the Old Church Slavonic liturgical language, and its adaptations used for several languages of Eastern Europe and Asia; of or relating to this writing system.
- The Cyrillic alphabet or writing system.
Russian is typically written in Cyrillic.
2 more examples
This is Yugoslavia: 24 million people of 24 ethnic groups and three major religions, writing in both the Latin alphabet and Cyrillic, divided into six republics—six bows drawn tight.
1990 August, Kenneth C. Danforth, “Yugoslavia: A House Much Divided”, in National Geographic, volume 178, number 2, pages 102-103Hidden behind a Cyrillic veil of mystery, it’s one of the harder languages to master, so much so that even many Russians speak it incorrectly.
2021 April 25, John Malathronas, “Which languages are easiest – and most difficult – for native English speakers to learn?”, in CNN, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2022Synonyms: Cyrillic script
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounThe Cyrillic alphabet or writing system.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan alphabet derived from the Greek alphabet and used for writing Slavic languages (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and some other Slavic languages)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient GreekΚῡ́ρῐλλος
- Medieval LatinCȳrillus
- EnglishCyrillic
From the name Cyril + -ic, from Medieval Latin Cȳrillus, from Ancient Greek Κῡ́ρῐλλος (Kū́rĭllos), denoting Saint Cyril, who devised a predecessor to the Cyrillic script, the Glagolitic alphabet, and whose students later devised the Cyrillic script itself.
More words from Medieval Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans cyrilliese alfabet
- cyrilliese alfabeta script or alphabet
Arabic سِرِيلِيّ, كِيرِيلِيَّة
- سِرِيلِيّ (sirīliyy)of or pertaining to Cyrillic
- كِيرِيلِيَّة (kīrīliyya)a script or alphabet
- سِرِيلِيَّة (sirīliyya)a script or alphabet
- أَبْجَدِيَّة كِيرِيلِيَّة (ʔabjadiyya kīrīliyya)a script or alphabet
- أَبْجَدِيَّة سِرِيلِيَّة (ʔabjadiyya sirīliyya)a script or alphabet
Basque ziriliko, ziriliko
- zirilikoof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- zirilikoa script or alphabet
Bulgarian ки́рилски, ки́рилица
- ки́рилски (kírilski)of or pertaining to Cyrillic
- ки́рилица (kírilica)a script or alphabet
- ки́рилска а́збука (kírilska ázbuka)a script or alphabet
Catalan ciríl·lic, ciríl·lic
- ciríl·licof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- ciríl·lica script or alphabet
Chinese Mandarin 西里爾, 基里爾
- 西里爾 (xīlǐ'ěr)of or pertaining to Cyrillic
- 基里爾 (Jīlǐ'ěr)of or pertaining to Cyrillic
- 西里爾字母 (Xīlǐ'ěr zìmǔ)a script or alphabet
- 西里尔字母 (xīlǐ'ěr zìmǔ)a script or alphabet
- 西里爾 (xīlǐ'ěr)a script or alphabet
- 基里爾字母 (jīlǐ'ěr zìmǔ)a script or alphabet
Czech cyrilice, cyrilice
- cyriliceof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- cyrilicea script or alphabet
Danish kyrillisk
- kyrilliskof or pertaining to Cyrillic
Dutch cyrillisch, cyrillisch
- cyrillischof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- cyrillischa script or alphabet
Esperanto cirila
- cirilaof or pertaining to Cyrillic
Estonian kirillitsa
- kirillitsaa script or alphabet
Finnish kyrillinen, kyrillinen kirjaimisto
- kyrillinenof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- kyrillinen kirjaimistoa script or alphabet
French cyrillique, cyrillique
- cyrilliqueof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- cyrilliquea script or alphabet
German kyrillisch, Kyrillisch
- kyrillischof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- Kyrillischa script or alphabet
Greek κυριλλικός, κυριλλιακόν
- κυριλλικός (kyrillikós)of or pertaining to Cyrillic
- κυριλλιακόν (kyrilliakón)a script or alphabet
- κυριλλικό αλφάβητο (kyrillikó alfávito)a script or alphabet
Hebrew קירילית, קירילית
- קיריליתof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- קירילית (kirilít)a script or alphabet
Hindi सिरिलिक
- सिरिलिक (sirilik)a script or alphabet
Hungarian cirill, cirill
- cirillof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- cirilla script or alphabet
- cirill ábécéa script or alphabet
Icelandic kyrillískur, kyrillískur
- kyrillískurof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- kyrillískura script or alphabet
Irish Coireallach, aibítir Choireallach
- Coireallachof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- aibítir Choireallacha script or alphabet
Italian cirillico, cirillico
- cirillicoof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- cirillicoa script or alphabet
Japanese キリル, キリル文字
- キリル (kiriru)of or pertaining to Cyrillic
- キリル文字 (kiriru moji)a script or alphabet
- キリル (kiriru)a script or alphabet
Korean 키릴, 키릴 문자
- 키릴 (kiril)of or pertaining to Cyrillic
- 키릴 문자 (kiril munja)a script or alphabet
- 키릴 (kiril)a script or alphabet
Latvian kirilica
- kirilicaa script or alphabet
Lithuanian kirilica, kirilica
- kirilicaof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- kirilicaa script or alphabet
Māori hiririki
- hiririkia script or alphabet
Norwegian kyrillisk
- kyrilliskof or pertaining to Cyrillic
Persian سیریلیک, الفبای سیریلیک
- سیریلیک (sirilik)a script or alphabet
- الفبای سیریلیک (alefbâ-ye sirilik)a script or alphabet
Polish cyrylicki, cyrylica
- cyrylickiof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- cyrylicaa script or alphabet
Portuguese cirílico, cirílico
- cirílicoof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- cirílicoa script or alphabet
Romanian chirilic, alfabet chirilic
- chirilicof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- alfabet chirilica script or alphabet
Russian кирилли́ческий, а́збучный
- кирилли́ческий (kirillíčeskij)of or pertaining to Cyrillic
- а́збучный (ázbučnyj)of or pertaining to Cyrillic
- кири́ллица (kiríllica)a script or alphabet
- а́збука (ázbuka)a script or alphabet
Slovak cyrilika, cyrilika
- cyrilikaof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- cyrilikaa script or alphabet
Spanish cirílico, cirílico
- cirílicoof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- cirílicoa script or alphabet
Swedish kyrillisk, kyrilliska
- kyrilliskof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- kyrilliskaa script or alphabet
Thai อักษรซีริลลิก, ซีริลลิก
- อักษรซีริลลิก (àk-sɔ̌ɔn sii-ril-lìk)a script or alphabet
- ซีริลลิก (sii-ril-lìk)a script or alphabet
Turkish Kiril, Kiril alfabesi
- Kirila script or alphabet
- Kiril alfabesia script or alphabet
Ukrainian кирили́чний, а́збучний
- кирили́чний (kyrylýčnyj)of or pertaining to Cyrillic
- а́збучний (ázbučnyj)of or pertaining to Cyrillic
- кири́лиця (kyrýlycja)a script or alphabet
- а́збука (ázbuka)a script or alphabet
Vietnamese Kirin, chữ Kirin
- Kirinof or pertaining to Cyrillic
- chữ Kirina script or alphabet
Cite this entry
Cyrillic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cyrillic
“Cyrillic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cyrillic. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Cyrillic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cyrillic.
Source: Cyrillic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.