звѣръ

Old Ruthenian

Alternative forms

• звѣрь (zvěrʹ), зъвѣрь (zvěrʹ), звиръ (zvir), звирь (zvirʹ)

Etymology

Inherited from Old East Slavic звѣрь (zvěrĭ), from Proto-Slavic *zvě̑rь, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *źwēˀrís, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer-is, from *ǵʰwer-. Cognate with Russian зверь (zverʹ), Old Novgorodian ꙁвѣрь (zvěrĭ), Old Church Slavonic звѣрь (zvěrĭ).

Noun

звѣръ • (zvěr) m (genitive звѣра, nominative plural звѣры, genitive plural звѣровъ, related adjective звѣриный or звѣрѧчїй, diminutive звѣрѧ or звѣрѧтко)

1. wild animal, beast
2. game meat
3. creature
4. (figuratively) devil, satan

Related terms

Old Ruthenian terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰwer- (0 c, 2 e)

Descendants

• Belarusian: звер (zvjer); зьвер (zʹvjer) (Taraškievica orthography)
• Carpathian Rusyn: звірь (zvirʹ)
• Ukrainian: звір (zvir)

Further reading

• Hrynchyshyn, D. H., editor (1977), “*зверъ; *звер”, in Словник староукраїнської мови XIV–XV ст. [Dictionary of the Old Ukrainian Language of the 14ᵗʰ–15ᵗʰ cc.] (in Ukrainian), volume 1 (А – М), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, page 390
• Hrynchyshyn, D. H., editor (1977), “*звѣрь; *звирь”, in Словник староукраїнської мови XIV–XV ст. [Dictionary of the Old Ukrainian Language of the 14ᵗʰ–15ᵗʰ cc.] (in Ukrainian), volume 1 (А – М), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, page 391
• Hrynchyshyn, D. H., editor (2004), “звѣръ, звѣрь, зверъ, зверь, звиръ”, in Словник української мови XVI – 1-ї пол. XVII ст. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language of 16ᵗʰ – 1ˢᵗ half of 17ᵗʰ c.] (in Ukrainian), numbers 11 (затраченє – злечитисѧ), Lviv: KIUS, →ISBN, page 139
• Zhurawski, A. I., editor (1993), “зверь, зверъ”, in Гістарычны слоўнік беларускай мовы [Historical Dictionary of the Belarusian Language] (in Belarusian), numbers 12 (зашкодный – злотницкий), Minsk: Navuka i tekhnika, →ISBN, page 82
• Tymchenko, E. K. (2002) “звѣръ”, in Nimchuk, V. V., editor, Матеріали до словника писемної та книжної української мови XV–XVIII ст. [Materials for the Dictionary of the Written and Book Ukrainian Language of 15ᵗʰ–18ᵗʰ cc.] (in Ukrainian), volumes 1 (А – Н), Kyiv, New York: National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S., →ISBN, page 310