ushkuinik

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Russian ушку́йник (uškújnik).

Noun[edit]

ushkuinik (plural ushkuiniks)

  1. A medieval Novgorodian pirate who led a life similar to that of a Viking.
    • 1998, James Bailey, Anthology Russian Folk Epics, M.E. Sharpe, page 319:
      Vasily tells his mother that he wants to travel to Jerusalem because the time has come for him to repent his earlier misdeeds, possibly an allusion to a life of fighting, killing, and robbery as a Viking-like ushkuinik.