козырь

Russian

Etymology 1

Attested first from the year 1731, borrowed from Polish kozyr, also kozer, variants of kozyra, kozera (“trump; card-sharper; card-game; struggle, calamity”), a dialectal variant – already attested in the 16^th century in the sense “trump” – of kostera, kostyra (“card sharper”), from kość (“die”), also kozyrnik, kozernik (“card-shark; fullam-player”).

Compare as another cardgame term that has passed into Russian from Polish: шу́лер (šúler, “card-sharp”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈkozɨrʲ]

Noun

ко́зырь • (kózyrʹ) m inan (genitive ко́зыря, nominative plural ко́зыри, genitive plural козыре́й, related adjective козырно́й or козы́рный)

trump
(idiomatic) main argument, used in the right time to gain advantage
(idiomatic) unrevealed or hidden advantage
припасённыйко́зырь ― pripasjónnyj kózyrʹ ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
кто́-то припа́с ко́зырь ― któ-to pripás kózyrʹ ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Declension

Declension of ко́зырь (inan masc-form soft-stem accent-e)

	singular	plural
nominative	ко́зырь kózyrʹ	ко́зыри kózyri
genitive	ко́зыря kózyrja	козыре́й kozyréj
dative	ко́зырю kózyrju	козыря́м kozyrjám
accusative	ко́зырь kózyrʹ	ко́зыри kózyri
instrumental	ко́зырем kózyrem	козыря́ми kozyrjámi
prepositional	ко́зыре kózyre	козыря́х kozyrjáx

Related terms

козыря́ть (kozyrjátʹ)

Descendants

→ Armenian: կոզիր (kozir)
→ Azerbaijani: kozır
→ Georgian: კოზირი (ḳoziri)
→ Ingrian: kozeri
→ Kazakh: көзір (közır)
→ Romanian: coz
- → Ottoman Turkish: قوز‎ (koz)
  - Turkish: koz
  - → Armenian: ղոզ (łoz), խոզ (xoz), կոզ (koz)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle Russian козырь (kozyrʹ) (att. 1641), козирь (kozirʹ). Origin unclear, but suggested to be connected to коза.

Noun

ко́зырь • (kózyrʹ) m inan (genitive ко́зыря, nominative plural ко́зыри, genitive plural козыре́й, related adjective козырно́й)

(obsolete) high standing collar
(obsolete) or (regional) canopy over a horse-drawn cart, sleigh
(obsolete) or (regional) peak, visor

Related terms

козырем ходить (kozyrem xoditʹ)

References

Kiparsky, Valentin (1975) Russische historische Grammatik. Band III: Entwicklung des Wortschatzes (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 172