balalaiki

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English

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Etymology

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From the Russian балала́йки (balalájki), the nominative plural form of балала́йка (balalájka).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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balalaiki

  1. plural of balalaika
    • 1888, Henry Sutherland Edwards (translator), Fyodor Dostoyevsky (author), The House of the Dead; or, Prison Life in Siberia, London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. & New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. (1911), part I, chapter xii: “The Performance”, page 181:
      Suddenly the signal is given, and the orchestra begins to play. This orchestra deserves a special mention. It consisted of eight musicians: two violins, one of which was the property of a convict, while the other had been borrowed from outside; three balalaiki, made by the convicts themselves; two guitars, and a tambourine. The violins sighed and shrieked, and the guitars were worthless, but the balalaiki were remarkably good; and the agile fingering of the artists would have done honour to the cleverest executant.