вълхвъ

вълхвъ

Old East Slavic

Oleg meets the volkhv. Painting by Viktor Vasnetsov.

Alternative forms

• волхвъ (volxvŭ), волъхвъ (volŭxvŭ), вълъхвъ (vŭlŭxvŭ)

Etymology

Related to Old Church Slavonic влъхвъ (vlŭxvŭ) and Old Church Slavonic влъснѫти (vlŭsnǫti, “to stutter”), referring to the trances the priests used in their ceremonies.Cognate with Old Czech vlchvec. Polish wołchw, Slovene volh

Pronunciation

• (ca. 9^th CE) IPA^(key): /ʋʊlxʋʊ/
• (ca. 11^th CE) IPA^(key): /ʋʊlxʋʊ/
• (ca. 13^th CE) IPA^(key): /ʋɔlxʋ/

Noun

вълхвъ (vŭlxvŭ) ?

1. wizard, mage

Synonyms

• кудесникъ (kudesnikŭ)
• обавьникъ (obavĭnikŭ)

Related terms

• вълхва (vŭlxva)
• вълхвованиѥ (vŭlxvovanije)
• вълхвовати (vŭlxvovati)

 

Descendants

• Russian: волхв (volxv)
  • → English: volkhv
• Ukrainian: волхв (volxv)
• → Finnish: velho
• → Estonian: võlu

References

• Sreznevsky, Izmail I. (1893), “вълхвъ”, in Матеріалы для Словаря древне-русскаго языка по письменнымъ памятникамъ [Materials for the Dictionary of the Old East Slavic Language Based on Written Monuments]‎ (in Russian), volume 1: А – К, Saint Petersburg: Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, column 382