babulya

plural babulyas · alternative babulia

1. endearingAn Eastern European (especially Russian) grandmother.

   The rest of her body was cold, as if she’d died with her babulya, the last person on earth who had really loved her.

   2012, Kim Purcell, chapter 50, in Trafficked, New York, N.Y.: Viking, →ISBN, page 338

   2 more examples

   When Channing was a toddler, living outside Moscow, her babulya had sewn fresh pine shavings into scraps of army canvas, and placed them underneath the child’s pillow.

   2011 fall, Zana Previti, “Questions of Travel”, in Kate Gale, editor, The Los Angeles Review, volume 10, [Pasadena, Calif.]: Red Hen Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 184

   My babulya (grandma) is 91 years old with Parkinson’s disease, but she still exercises as much as she can everyday^([sic]) and makes the most beautiful artwork.

   2023 fall, Milana Kozlova, “The Other Side: An Opinion Piece”, in The Flash, volume 31, number 1, Rocklin, Calif.: Rocklin High School, page 31, column 2

   Synonyms: baba, babushka