куче

Bulgarian

A dog (a Labrador)

Etymology

Morphologically formed as ку́чак (kúčak) (obsolescent) +‎ -е (-e), originally meaning puppy. Attested (as Old Church Slavonic коучѧ (kučę)) in the Manassian chronicles, 14th century.

Further origin uncertain. Hypotheses include:

• Onomatopoeic origin: Derived from the root of Bulgarian ку́ям (kújam, “to grumble, to yelp”) (dialectal), ку́кура (kúkura, “goblin-like creature”) (folklore), akin to Lithuanian kaũkti (“to howl”). Perhaps originally a substantivation of the call куч-куч (kuč-kuč) for evoking dogs (in East Slavic attested as куцу-куцу).
• Oghur origin: Related to Hungarian kutya (“dog”), ultimately from Proto-Turkic *kičüg (“small”). Probably of Iranian origin as in Persian کوچک (kučak, “small”). Note especially Armenian կուտիկ (kutik), կոտիկ (kotik, “puppy”) from that Iranian root.

See also Bulgarian кутре́ (kutré, “pinky finger; puppy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkut͡ʃɛ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

ку́че • (kúče) n (feminine ку́чка, relational adjective ку́чи or ку́чешки, diminutive ку́ченце)

1. diminutive of ку́чак (kúčak)
2. dog (usually a male one)

   Synonym: пес (pes)

Declension

Declension of ку́че

	singular	plural
indefinite	ку́че kúče	ку́чета, ку́ченя1 kúčeta, kúčenja1
definite	ку́чето kúčeto	ку́четата, ку́ченята1 kúčetata, kúčenjata1

¹Dialectal.

Derived terms

• ку́ченце (kúčence, “puppy”)
• кучка́р (kučkár), кучка́рин (kučkárin, “dog-breeder, dog-carer”)
• кучета́р (kučetár, “alpha-dog”) (dialectal)

See also

• вълк (vǎlk, “wolf”)

References

• “куче”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2014
• “куче”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Chitanka, 2010
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1986), “куче”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 3 (крес¹ – мѝнго¹), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 168

Further reading

• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1986), “куч-куч”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 3 (крес¹ – мѝнго¹), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 167

Macedonian

Etymology

Related to Bulgarian куче (kuče); see there for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkut͡ʃɛ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ку‧че

Noun

куче • (kuče) n (plural кучиња, relational adjective кучешки, diminutive кученце or кутре or кучуле, augmentative кучиште)

1. dog

Declension

Declension of куче

	singular	plural
indefinite	куче (kuče)	кучиња (kučinja)
definite unspecified	кучето (kučeto)	кучињата (kučinjata)
definite proximal	кучево (kučevo)	кучињава (kučinjava)
definite distal	кучено (kučeno)	кучињана (kučinjana)
vocative	куче (kuče)	кучиња (kučinja)

See also

• пес m (pes)
• куц-куц (kuc-kuc)

References

• Koneski, Kiril (1999) “куче”, in Правописен речник на македонскиот литературен јазик (Pravopisen rečnik na makedonskiot literaturen jazik) [Orthographic Dictionary of the Macedonian literary language] (in Macedonian), "Prosvetno delo", page 198
• “куче” in Дигитален речник на македонскиот јазик (Digitalen rečnik na makedonskiot jazik) [Digital dictionary of the Macedonian language] − drmj.eu

Russian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkut͡ɕe]
• IPA^(key): [ˈkut͡ɕɪ]

Noun

ку́че • (kúče) f inan

1. dative/prepositional singular of ку́ча (kúča)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Related to Bulgarian куче (kuče); see there for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kût͡ʃe/
• Hyphenation: ку‧че

Noun

ку̏че n (Latin spelling kȕče)

1. young dog; puppy

Declension

Declension of куче

	singular	plural
nominative	куче	кучићи
genitive	кучета	кучића
dative	кучету	кучићима
accusative	куче	кучиће
vocative	куче	кучићи
locative	кучету	кучићима
instrumental	кучетом	кучићима

Further reading

• “куче”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025