самоед

Russian

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самоед

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Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [səmɐˈjet]

Etymology 1

Probably from Sami *saam-edne (“land of the people”); compare to Finnish Suomi (“Finn”).

Russian folk etymology derives the term from само- (samo-, “self”) +‎ есть (jestʹ, “to eat”), literally “self-eater”.

Noun

самое́д • (samojéd) m anim (genitive самое́да, nominative plural самое́ды, genitive plural самое́дов, feminine самое́дка, relational adjective самое́дский)

1. (dated, sometimes offensive) (in the narrow sense) a Nenets

   Synonym: не́нец (nénec)

2. (dated, sometimes offensive) (in the wide sense) a Samoyed (a member of any Samoyedic ethnic group)

   Synonym: самоди́ец (samodíjec)

3. a Samoyed (dog)

   Synonyms: самое́дская соба́ка (samojédskaja sobáka), самое́дская ла́йка (samojédskaja lájka)

Usage notes

• Replaced by the modern neutral term самоди́ец (samodíjec) in the late 1930s.
• Sometimes seen as offensive due to the literal Russian reading of the word (“self-eater”, with the possible implication “cannibal”).

Declension

Declension of самое́д (anim masc-form hard-stem accent-a) 

	singular	plural
nominative	самое́д samojéd	самое́ды samojédy
genitive	самое́да samojéda	самое́дов samojédov
dative	самое́ду samojédu	самое́дам samojédam
accusative	самое́да samojéda	самое́дов samojédov
instrumental	самое́дом samojédom	самое́дами samojédami
prepositional	самое́де samojéde	самое́дах samojédax

Descendants

• → English: Samoyed
• Norwegian Bokmål: samojed

Etymology 2

From само- (samo-, “self”) +‎ -ед (-ed, “eater”), literally “self-eater”.

Noun

самое́д • (samojéd) m anim (genitive самое́да, nominative plural самое́ды, genitive plural самое́дов, relational adjective самое́дский)

1. (colloquial) a self-critical, self-deprecating, excessively introspective person

Declension

Declension of самое́д (anim masc-form hard-stem accent-a) 

	singular	plural
nominative	самое́д samojéd	самое́ды samojédy
genitive	самое́да samojéda	самое́дов samojédov
dative	самое́ду samojédu	самое́дам samojédam
accusative	самое́да samojéda	самое́дов samojédov
instrumental	самое́дом samojédom	самое́дами samojédami
prepositional	самое́де samojéde	самое́дах samojédax

Related terms

• самое́дство (samojédstvo)

References

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “самоед”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress
• Douglas Harper (2001–2025), “Samoyed”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Самоед”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.