кумир

Russian

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Church Slavonic коумиръ (kumirŭ), whose origin is uncertain. Perhaps a Turkic[1] or Semitic[2] borrowing: compare Classical Syriac ܟܘܡܪܐ‎ (kūmrāʾ, “priest”), whence Old Armenian քուրմ (kʿurm, “priest”). Has also been connected to Ossetian гуымиры (g°ymiry, “giant”) and Georgian გმირი (gmiri, “hero”) and together with them derived from the name of Cimmerians.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [kʊˈmʲir]
Audio (file)

Noun

куми́р • (kumír) m inan or m anim (genitive куми́ра, nominative plural куми́ры, genitive plural куми́ров)

(paganism) idol, graven image
(figuratively) beloved person

Declension

Declension of куми́р (bian masc-form hard-stem accent-a)

	singular	plural
nominative	куми́р kumír	куми́ры kumíry
genitive	куми́ра kumíra	куми́ров kumírov
dative	куми́ру kumíru	куми́рам kumíram
accusative animate inanimate	куми́ра kumíra	куми́ров kumírov
accusative animate inanimate	куми́р kumír	куми́ры kumíry
instrumental	куми́ром kumírom	куми́рами kumírami
prepositional	куми́ре kumíre	куми́рах kumírax

Synonyms

и́дол (ídol), чур (čur)

References

Ranko Matasović (2016) "A READER IN COMPARATIVE INDO-EUROPEAN RELIGION". University of Zagreb. page 74. quote: "Gods were represented by giant statues (CSl. kumirъ a word of Turkic origin)."
Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “кумир”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), transl. and suppl. by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress

[1] Ranko Matasović (2016) "A READER IN COMPARATIVE INDO-EUROPEAN RELIGION". University of Zagreb. page 74. quote: "Gods were represented by giant statues (CSl. kumirъ a word of Turkic origin)."

[2] Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “кумир”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), transl. and suppl. by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress