Київ

Ukrainian

Etymology

From Old East Slavic Кꙑѥвъ (Kyjevŭ), through Old Ukrainian Кї́євь (Kjíjevʹ), Middle Ukrainian Ки́єв (Kýjev), Кі́евъ (Kíevʺ), Ки́евъ (Kýevʺ).

The traditional etymology is from the name the a legendary founder кии (kii, in Old Church Slavonic), mentioned in the Hypatian Codex (see Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv on Wikipedia). Compare Ukrainian Кий (Kyj), Russian Ки́ев (Kíjev) and Кий (Kij). However, historian Michael Hrushevsky warned that this was an “etymological myth”.

A proposal by linguist Jaroslav Rudnyckyj, accepted by several émigré linguists and supported by multiple lines of evidence, holds that Київ comes rather from кий (kyj, “stick, pole”), meaning a settlement palisaded ки́ями (kýjamy, “by poles”). The word comes from Proto-Slavic *kyjь (“pole, hammer”), from Proto-Indo-European *kū-i̯os (“pole, hammer”), *kāu̯-, *kəu̯-, related to *kūti (“to hit”), from *koutei.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɪjiu̯]

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Ки́їв • (Kýjiv) m inan (genitive Ки́єва)

1. Kiev (the capital of Ukraine)

Declension

Declension of Ки́їв

	singular
nominative	Ки́їв Kýjiv
genitive	Ки́єва Kýjeva
dative	Ки́єву Kýjevu
accusative	Ки́їв Kýjiv
instrumental	Ки́євом Kýjevom
locative	Ки́єві, Ки́єву Kýjevi, Kýjevu
vocative	Ки́єве Kýjeve

Derived terms

Derived terms

• Ки́євець (Kýjevecʹ)
• Ки́єво- (Kýjevo-)
• київля́нин (kyjivljányn), київля́нка (kyjivljánka)
• ки́ївський (kýjivsʹkyj)

• Ки́ївська о́бласть (Kýjivsʹka óblastʹ)
• Ки́ївська Русь (Kýjivsʹka Rusʹ)
• Ки́ївщина (Kýjivščyna)
• кия́нин (kyjányn), кия́нка (kyjánka)
• кия́нський (kyjánsʹkyj)

References

• Melʹnyčuk O. S., editor (1982–2012), “кий”, in Etymolohičnyj slovnyk ukrajinsʹkoji movy [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kiev: Naukova Dumka
• Rudnycʼkyj, Jaroslav B. (1982), “Київ”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language (in Ukrainian), volume II, Ottawa: Ukrainian Mohylo-Mazepian Academy of Sciences, Ukrainian Language Association, pages 660–667