tundra

See also: Tundra

English

WOTD – 24 December 2006

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian ту́ндра (túndra), from Kildin Sami тӯндрэ (tūndre), the accusative and genitive form of тӯндар (tūndar).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʌndɹə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

A tundra.

tundra (countable and uncountable, plural tundras)

1. A flat and treeless Arctic biome.
   • 1904, Jack London, chapter 30, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:

     The hut's walls rose without difficulty, and everything went smoothly until the problem of the roof confronted me. Of what use the four walls without a roof? And of what could a roof be made? There were the spare oars, very true. They would serve as roof-beams; but with what was I to cover them? Moss would never do. Tundra grass was impracticable. We needed the sail for the boat, and the tarpaulin had begun to leak.

2. A long stretch of something, such as time.
   • 1979 August 12, Ivan Gold, “One Man's Family”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     His wife and he were childhood sweethearts; he had known her for 25 years. (He will call her “my wife” throughout, just as he cannot bear to name his two sons, however carefully and lovingly he will eventually describe them. They remain “the older one” and “the younger one.”) There are tundras of time for him to cross and cross again as he recalls their life together and its sudden end: a quarter‐century of quotidian love and bruises and the ultimate estrangement of long familiarity.

   • 1991, Dar Williams, “Calamity John”, in All My Heroes Are Dead:

     When you stood at the gulf of unknowing, / When you saw the great tundra of time, / And you cried for the winds to come blowing, / And you called a monsoon from the tides of the moon, / 'Cause the roads were all dusty and dry.

   • 2009 December 22, Louisa Kamps, “The Distraction Diet”, in Elle‎^[2]:

     Putting on paper exactly what steps I need to take for each project does promote peace of mind, I find. And in my eagerness to tick items off on my "next action" lists, my productivity ramps up. Still, there are days of backsliding. I go to research something online, but once out on the wild Web, lose my way—and vast tundras of time—wandering further away from whatever I was looking for with each click of the mouse.

   • 2018 January 2, Sara Pascoe, “We should all pick achievable resolutions – get through three days of dry January and you’re a hero to me”, in The Guardian‎^[3]:

     We parcel up time into years and months and days because without compartmentalisation the tundra of time is impossible to navigate.

Derived terms

• steppe-tundra
• tundra bean goose
• tundral
• Tundra Nenets
• tundra swan
• tundra tire
• tundra tyre
• tundra vole
• tundra wolf

Translations

flat treeless arctic region

• Afrikaans: toendra (af)
• Ainu: ヌﾌ (nuf)
• Albanian: tundër (sq)
• Arabic: تُنْدْرَا f (tundrā)
• Aramaic:

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܛܘܼܢܕܪܵܐ f (ṭundrā)

• Armenian: տունդրա (hy) (tundra)
• Azerbaijani: tundra
• Belarusian: ту́ндра (túndra)
• Bulgarian: ту́ндра f (túndra)
• Catalan: tundra (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 凍原 / 冻原 (zh) (dòngyuán), 苔原 (zh) (táiyuán), 凍土層 / 冻土层 (zh) (dòngtǔcéng) (permafrost)

• Czech: tundra (cs) f
• Danish: tundra (da) c
• Dolgan: тыа (tıa, literally “forest”), муора (muora, literally “sea”)
• Dutch: toendra (nl) f
• Esperanto: tundro
• Estonian: tundra (et)
• Faroese: tundra f, frostmýra f
• Finnish: tundra (fi)
• French: toundra (fr) f
• Galician: tundra f
• Georgian: ტუნდრა (ṭundra)
• German: Tundra (de) f
• Greek: τούντρα (el) f (toúntra), τούνδρα (el) f (toúndra)
• Hawaiian: nakilinaka
• Hebrew: טוּנְדְרָה (he) f (túndra)
• Hindi: टुंड्रा (hi) (ṭuṇḍrā), तुन्द्रा (tundrā)
• Hungarian: tundra (hu)
• Icelandic: freðmýri (is) f, túndra f
• Ido: tundra (io)
• Indonesian: tundra (id)
• Ingrian: tundra
• Interlingua: tundra
• Irish: tundra m
• Italian: tundra (it) f
• Japanese: ツンドラ (ja) (tsundora), 凍原 (とうげん, tōgen)
• Kazakh: тундра (tundra)
• Khakas: кӧдіре (ködìre)
• Korean: 툰드라 (ko) (tundeura)
• Kyrgyz: тундра (tundra)
• Latvian: tundra f
• Lithuanian: tundra f
• Macedonian: ту́ндра f (túndra)
• Mongolian: тундр (mn) (tundr)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tundra m

  Nynorsk: tundra m

• Ossetian: тундрӕ (tundræ)
• Persian: توندرا (fa) (tundrâ)
• Polish: tundra (pl) f
• Portuguese: tundra (pt) f
• Romanian: tundră (ro) f
• Russian: ту́ндра (ru) f (túndra)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ту̑ндра f

  Latin: tȗndra (sh) f

• Shor: кӧдре (ködre)
• Slovak: tundra f
• Slovene: tundra (sl) f
• Spanish: tundra (es) f
• Swedish: tundra (sv) c
• Tagalog: tundra
• Tajik: тундра (tg) (tundra)
• Turkish: tundra (tr), kutup bozkırı
• Turkmen: tundra
• Ukrainian: ту́ндра f (túndra)
• Uyghur: تۇندىرا (tundira)
• Uzbek: tundra (uz)
• Vietnamese: đài nguyên, đồng rêu, lãnh nguyên
• Volapük: muskän
• Welsh: twndra m
• Yakut: туундара (tuundara)
• Yup'ik: nunapik

Further reading

• tundra on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Durant, durant, truand

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtundra]
• Hyphenation: tun‧d‧ra

Noun

tundra f

1. tundra (flat and treeless arctic biome)

Declension

Declension of tundra (hard feminine reducible)

	singular	plural
nominative	tundra	tundry
genitive	tundry	tunder
dative	tundře	tundrám
accusative	tundru	tundry
vocative	tundro	tundry
locative	tundře	tundrách
instrumental	tundrou	tundrami

Further reading

• “tundra”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “tundra”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Faroese

Etymology

From Russian ту́ндра (túndra), from Kildin Sami тӯннтрэ (tūnntre), the accusative/genitive form of тӯнтар (tūntar).

Noun

tundra f (genitive singular tundru, uncountable)

1. tundra (flat and treeless arctic biome)

   Synonym: frostmýri

Declension

f1	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	tundra	tundran	tundrur	tundrurnar
accusative	tundru	tundruna	tundrur	tundrurnar
dative	tundru	tundruni	tundrum	tundrunum
genitive	tundru	tundrunnar	tundra	tundranna

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian ту́ндра (túndra), from Kildin Sami тӯннтрэ (tūnntre), the accusative/genitive form of тӯнтар (tūntar). Doublet of tanner, tantere, and tunturi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtundrɑ/, [ˈt̪un.drɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -undrɑ
• Syllabification^(key): tund‧ra
• Hyphenation^(key): tund‧ra

Noun

tundra

1. tundra (flat and treeless arctic biome)

Declension

Inflection of tundra (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation)
nominative		tundra	tundrat
genitive		tundran	tundrien
partitive		tundraa	tundria
illative		tundraan	tundriin
		singular	plural
nominative		tundra	tundrat
accusative	nom.	tundra	tundrat
	gen.	tundran
genitive		tundran	tundrien tundrain rare
partitive		tundraa	tundria
inessive		tundrassa	tundrissa
elative		tundrasta	tundrista
illative		tundraan	tundriin
adessive		tundralla	tundrilla
ablative		tundralta	tundrilta
allative		tundralle	tundrille
essive		tundrana	tundrina
translative		tundraksi	tundriksi
abessive		tundratta	tundritta
instructive		—	tundrin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of tundra (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tundrani tundrani accusative nom. tundrani tundrani gen. tundrani genitive tundrani tundrieni tundraini rare partitive tundraani tundriani inessive tundrassani tundrissani elative tundrastani tundristani illative tundraani tundriini adessive tundrallani tundrillani ablative tundraltani tundriltani allative tundralleni tundrilleni essive tundranani tundrinani translative tundrakseni tundrikseni abessive tundrattani tundrittani instructive — — comitative — tundrineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tundrasi tundrasi accusative nom. tundrasi tundrasi gen. tundrasi genitive tundrasi tundriesi tundraisi rare partitive tundraasi tundriasi inessive tundrassasi tundrissasi elative tundrastasi tundristasi illative tundraasi tundriisi adessive tundrallasi tundrillasi ablative tundraltasi tundriltasi allative tundrallesi tundrillesi essive tundranasi tundrinasi translative tundraksesi tundriksesi abessive tundrattasi tundrittasi instructive — — comitative — tundrinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tundramme tundramme accusative nom. tundramme tundramme gen. tundramme genitive tundramme tundriemme tundraimme rare partitive tundraamme tundriamme inessive tundrassamme tundrissamme elative tundrastamme tundristamme illative tundraamme tundriimme adessive tundrallamme tundrillamme ablative tundraltamme tundriltamme allative tundrallemme tundrillemme essive tundranamme tundrinamme translative tundraksemme tundriksemme abessive tundrattamme tundrittamme instructive — — comitative — tundrinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tundranne tundranne accusative nom. tundranne tundranne gen. tundranne genitive tundranne tundrienne tundrainne rare partitive tundraanne tundrianne inessive tundrassanne tundrissanne elative tundrastanne tundristanne illative tundraanne tundriinne adessive tundrallanne tundrillanne ablative tundraltanne tundriltanne allative tundrallenne tundrillenne essive tundrananne tundrinanne translative tundraksenne tundriksenne abessive tundrattanne tundrittanne instructive — — comitative — tundrinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative tundransa tundransa accusative nom. tundransa tundransa gen. tundransa genitive tundransa tundriensa tundrainsa rare partitive tundraansa tundriaan tundriansa inessive tundrassaan tundrassansa tundrissaan tundrissansa elative tundrastaan tundrastansa tundristaan tundristansa illative tundraansa tundriinsa adessive tundrallaan tundrallansa tundrillaan tundrillansa ablative tundraltaan tundraltansa tundriltaan tundriltansa allative tundralleen tundrallensa tundrilleen tundrillensa essive tundranaan tundranansa tundrinaan tundrinansa translative tundrakseen tundraksensa tundrikseen tundriksensa abessive tundrattaan tundrattansa tundrittaan tundrittansa instructive — — comitative — tundrineen tundrinensa

Derived terms

compounds

• arotundra
• tundrahanhi
• tundrahopeatäplä
• tundrakasvi
• tundrakasvillisuus
• tundrakirvinen
• tundrakurmitsa
• tundrakurppelo
• tundrarousku
• tundrasara
• tundrasusi
• tundraurpiainen
• tundravikla
• tundravyöhyke

Further reading

• “tundra”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[4] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

Galician

Noun

tundra f (plural tundras)

1. tundra

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch toendra, from Russian ту́ндра (túndra), from Kildin Sami тӯндрэ (tūndre), the accusative and genitive form of тӯндар (tūndar).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈtundra/ [ˈt̪un.dra]
• Rhymes: -undra
• Syllabification: tun‧dra

Noun

tundra (plural tundra-tundra)

1. (ecology, geography) tundra

Derived terms

• tundra alpin

Further reading

• “tundra”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Ingrian

Tundra.

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian тундра (tundra).

Pronunciation

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈtundrɑ/, [ˈtundr]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈtundrɑ/, [ˈtund̥rɑ]
• Rhymes: -undr, -undrɑ
• Hyphenation: tund‧ra

Noun

tundra

1. (geography) tundra
   • 1936, L. G. Terehova, V. G. Erdeli, translated by P. I. Maksimov and N. A. Iljin, Geografia: oppikirja iƶoroin alkușkoulun neljättä klaassaa vart (toine osa), Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-Pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 28:

     Kuin sovetin valta uuvvistaa tundran väen elon.

     How the Soviet rule is renewing the life of the tundra people.

Declension

Declension of tundra (type 3/koira, no gradation)
	singular	plural
nominative	tundra	tundrat
genitive	tundran	tundriin
partitive	tundraa	tundria
illative	tundraa	tundrii
inessive	tundraas	tundriis
elative	tundrast	tundrist
allative	tundralle	tundrille
adessive	tundraal	tundriil
ablative	tundralt	tundrilt
translative	tundraks	tundriks
essive	tundranna, tundraan	tundrinna, tundriin
exessive1)	tundrant	tundrint
1) obsolete *) the accusative corresponds with either the genitive (sg) or nominative (pl) **) the comitative is formed by adding the suffix -ka? or -kä? to the genitive.

Derived terms

• metsätundra

Irish

Etymology

From Russian, from Kildin Sami.

Noun

tundra m (genitive singular tundra, nominative plural tundraí)

1. tundra

Declension

Declension of tundra (fourth declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative tundra tundraí vocative a thundra a thundraí genitive tundra tundraí dative tundra tundraí forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an tundra na tundraí genitive an tundra na dtundraí dative leis an tundra don tundra leis na tundraí

Mutation

Mutated forms of tundra

radical	lenition	eclipsis
tundra	thundra	dtundra

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “tundra”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “tundra”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2026
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959), “tundra”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm

Italian

Etymology

From Russian ту́ндра (túndra), from Kildin Sami тӯннтрэ (tūnntre), the accusative/genitive form of тӯнтар (tūntar).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtun.dra/
• Rhymes: -undra
• Hyphenation: tùn‧dra

Noun

tundra f (plural tundre)

1. tundra

Latvian

tundra

Etymology

Ultimately from Russian ту́ндра (túndra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtundɾa]
• Hyphenation: tun‧dra

Noun

tundra f (4th declension)

1. tundra (a natural zone that has developed in the arctic and subarctic zones and is characterised by low average temperatures, high humidity and short growing seasons)
   • 2024 December 20, Claudi Casals, kas ir tundra‎^[5]:

     Varbūt jūs kādreiz esat dzirdējuši par to, ko sauc par "tundru", gan filmā, gan seriālā, gan dokumentālajā filmā. Bet kas ir tundra?

     You may have heard of what is called "the tundra" in a film, TV series or documentary. But what is the tundra?

2. tundra (the geographical area in the arctic and subarctic zone between the arctic deserts and the forest tundra)

Declension

Declension of tundra (4th)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative	tundra	tundras
genitive	tundras	tundru
dative	tundrai	tundrām
accusative	tundru	tundras
instrumental	tundru	tundrām
locative	tundrā	tundrās
vocative	tundra	tundras

Derived terms

nouns

• mežatundra f

References

• “tundra” in Latviešu literārās valodas vārdnīca
• “tundra” in Mūsdienu latviešu valodas vārdnīca
• tundra at tezaurs.lv

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Russian ту́ндра (túndra), from Kildin Sami тӯннтрэ (tūnntre), the accusative/genitive form of тӯнтар (tūntar).

Noun

tundra m (definite singular tundraen, indefinite plural tundraer, definite plural tundraene)

1. tundra

References

• “tundra” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Russian ту́ндра (túndra), from Kildin Sami тӯннтрэ (tūnntre), the accusative/genitive form of тӯнтар (tūntar).

Noun

tundra m (definite singular tundraen, indefinite plural tundraer or trundraar, definite plural tundraene or tundraane)

1. tundra

References

• “tundra” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

tundra

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian ту́ндра (túndra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtun.dra/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -undra
• Syllabification: tun‧dra

Noun

tundra f (related adjective tundrowy)

1. tundra (flat and treeless Arctic biome)

Declension

Declension of tundra

	singular	plural
nominative	tundra	tundry
genitive	tundry	tundr
dative	tundrze	tundrom
accusative	tundrę	tundry
instrumental	tundrą	tundrami
locative	tundrze	tundrach
vocative	tundro	tundry

Further reading

• tundra in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• tundra in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French toundra, from Russian ту́ндра (túndra).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈtũ.dɾɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈtũ.dɾɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈtũ.dɾa/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈtũ.dɾɐ/

• Hyphenation: tun‧dra

Noun

tundra f (plural tundras)

1. (geography) tundra (flat, treeless region around the Arctic)

Further reading

• “tundra”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “tundra”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Russian ту́ндра (túndra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tûːndra/
• Hyphenation: tun‧dra

Noun

tȗndra f (Cyrillic spelling ту̑ндра)

1. tundra

Declension

Declension of tundra

	singular	plural
nominative	tȗndra	tundre
genitive	tundre	tȗndrā/tȗndrī
dative	tundri	tundrama
accusative	tundru	tundre
vocative	tundro	tundre
locative	tundri	tundrama
instrumental	tundrom	tundrama

References

• “tundra”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtundɾa/ [ˈt̪ũn̪.d̪ɾa]
• Rhymes: -undɾa
• Syllabification: tun‧dra

Noun

tundra f (plural tundras)

1. tundra

Further reading

• “tundra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian ту́ндра (túndra), from Kildin Sami тӯннтрэ (tūnntre), the accusative/genitive form of тӯнтар (tūntar).

Noun

tundra c

1. tundra

Declension

Declension of tundra

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	tundra	tundras
	definite	tundran	tundrans
plural	indefinite	tundror	tundrors
	definite	tundrorna	tundrornas

References

• “tundra”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “tundra”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “tundra”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• rundat, undrat

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish توندره, from English tundra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tundɾa/

Noun

tundra (definite accusative tundrayı, plural tundralar)

1. tundra

   Synonym: kutup bozkırı

Declension

Declension of tundra

singular plural nominative tundra tundralar definite accusative tundrayı tundraları dative tundraya tundralara locative tundrada tundralarda ablative tundradan tundralardan genitive tundranın tundraların Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular tundram tundralarım 2nd singular tundran tundraların 3rd singular tundrası tundraları 1st plural tundramız tundralarımız 2nd plural tundranız tundralarınız 3rd plural tundraları tundraları definite accusative singular plural 1st singular tundramı tundralarımı 2nd singular tundranı tundralarını 3rd singular tundrasını tundralarını 1st plural tundramızı tundralarımızı 2nd plural tundranızı tundralarınızı 3rd plural tundralarını tundralarını dative singular plural 1st singular tundrama tundralarıma 2nd singular tundrana tundralarına 3rd singular tundrasına tundralarına 1st plural tundramıza tundralarımıza 2nd plural tundranıza tundralarınıza 3rd plural tundralarına tundralarına locative singular plural 1st singular tundramda tundralarımda 2nd singular tundranda tundralarında 3rd singular tundrasında tundralarında 1st plural tundramızda tundralarımızda 2nd plural tundranızda tundralarınızda 3rd plural tundralarında tundralarında ablative singular plural 1st singular tundramdan tundralarımdan 2nd singular tundrandan tundralarından 3rd singular tundrasından tundralarından 1st plural tundramızdan tundralarımızdan 2nd plural tundranızdan tundralarınızdan 3rd plural tundralarından tundralarından genitive singular plural 1st singular tundramın tundralarımın 2nd singular tundranın tundralarının 3rd singular tundrasının tundralarının 1st plural tundramızın tundralarımızın 2nd plural tundranızın tundralarınızın 3rd plural tundralarının tundralarının Predicative forms singular plural 1st singular tundrayım tundralarım 2nd singular tundrasın tundralarsın 3rd singular tundra tundradır tundralar tundralardır 1st plural tundrayız tundralarız 2nd plural tundrasınız tundralarsınız 3rd plural tundralar tundralardır

Further reading

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “tundra”, in Nişanyan Sözlük