ложь

See also: Appendix:Variations of "loz"

Russian

Etymology

Inherited from Old East Slavic лъжь (lŭžĭ), from Proto-Slavic *lъžь. Cognate with Old English lyġe, English lie from Proto-Germanic *lugiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɫoʂ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

ложь • (ložʹ) f inan (genitive лжи, nominative plural лжи, genitive plural лжей, relational adjective ло́жный)

1. lie, falsehood

   Synonyms: непра́вда (neprávda), враньё (vranʹjó), обма́н (obmán), фальшь (falʹšʹ), брехня́ (brexnjá)

   • 1880, Всеволод Гаршин [Vsevolod Garshin], chapter I, in Ночь; English translation from en:, (Please provide a date or year):

     Он не замеча́л, что, называ́я всю свою́ жизнь обма́ном и сме́шивая себя́ с гря́зью, он и тепе́рь лгал то́ю же, ху́дшею в ми́ре ло́жью, ло́жью самому́ себе́.

     On ne zamečál, što, nazyvája vsju svojú žiznʹ obmánom i sméšivaja sebjá s grjázʹju, on i tepérʹ lgal tóju že, xúdšeju v míre lóžʹju, lóžʹju samomú sebé.

     He didn't notice that, by calling his entire life a lie and dragging his own name through the mud, he was still telling those same old wretched lies, telling lies to his own self.

2. (logic) false

Usage notes

• Some Russians differentiate between ложь (ložʹ) and враньё (vranʹjó). A lie which is told to deceive someone is a ложь. Tall tales told without the malicious intention of deceiving others are враньё. In practice, however, both words can be used with the same meaning, враньё sounding informal and ложь sounding formal.
• This word is generally only used in the singular, although there are rare attestations of plural forms. Some resources on Russian grammar omit the nominative/accusative plural form instead of giving it as лжи.

Declension

Declension of ложь (inan fem-form 3rd-decl accent-bʹ reduc) 

	singular	plural
nominative	ло́жь lóžʹ	лжи́ lží
genitive	лжи́ lží	лже́й lžéj
dative	лжи́ lží	лжа́м lžám
accusative	ло́жь lóžʹ	лжи́ lží
instrumental	ло́жью lóžʹju	лжа́ми lžámi
prepositional	лжи́ lží	лжа́х lžáx

Pre-reform declension of ложь (inan fem-form 3rd-decl accent-bʹ reduc) 

	singular	plural
nominative	ло́жь lóžʹ	лжи́ lží
genitive	лжи́ lží	лже́й lžéj
dative	лжи́ lží	лжа́мъ lžám
accusative	ло́жь lóžʹ	лжи́ lží
instrumental	ло́жью lóžʹju	лжа́ми lžámi
prepositional	лжи́ lží	лжа́хъ lžáx

Related terms

• лгать impf (lgatʹ)
• лгун m anim (lgun), лгу́нья f anim (lgúnʹja)
• лже- (lže-)
• лжец m anim (lžec)
• лжи́вый (lžívyj), лжи́вость f (lžívostʹ)
• ло́жный (lóžnyj)
• облы́жный (oblýžnyj)

See also

• врать (vratʹ)

Further reading

• Dal, Vladimir (1880–1882), “ложь”, in Толковый Словарь живаго великорускаго языка [Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language] (in Russian), 2nd edition, Publication of the bookseller-typographer Wolf, M. O.
  • See: Dal, Vladimir (1880–1882), “лгать”, in Толковый Словарь живаго великорускаго языка [Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language] (in Russian), 2nd edition, Publication of the bookseller-typographer Wolf, M. O.