пуля

See also: пула and Пула

Russian

Две пули

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Russian пуля (pulja, “bullet, arquebus projectile”), att. since 1620s. As suggested by Chernykh and proven by Zoltan, a back-formation from пулька (pulʹka, “bullet; projectile in general”) (att. 1580s), itself a dissimilated borrowing from Old Ruthenian кулька (kulʹka) (att. 1550s), from Middle Polish kulka, from Old Polish kulka (att. 1497), from kula (att. 1461), from Middle High German kūle, a rare variant of kugele, itself of uncertain origin.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈpulʲə]
Audio (file)
Audio (file)

Noun

пу́ля • (púlja) f inan (genitive пу́ли, nominative plural пу́ли, genitive plural пуль)

bullet
- 2008, “Бе́лый пла́щик (Bélyj pláščik) [White Robe]”, performed by t.A.T.u.:
  Пу́ля в се́рдце, мозг на две́рцу
  Нимб и кры́лья
  Одева́ем бе́лый пла́щик
  Púlja v sérdce, mozg na dvércu
  Nimb i krýlʹja
  Odevájem bélyj pláščik
  Bullet in the heart, brain on the wall
  Halo and wings
  We put on a white robe

Usage notes

Strictly speaking пу́ля is the solid projectile fired from the firearm, as opposed to патро́н which consists of the assembled bullet, casing, propellant, and primer.

Declension

Declension of пу́ля (inan fem-form soft-stem accent-a)

	singular	plural
nominative	пу́ля púlja	пу́ли púli
genitive	пу́ли púli	пу́ль púlʹ
dative	пу́ле púle	пу́лям púljam
accusative	пу́лю púlju	пу́ли púli
instrumental	пу́лей, пу́лею púlej, púleju	пу́лями púljami
prepositional	пу́ле púle	пу́лях púljax

Related terms

пулево́й (pulevój)
пулемёт (pulemjót)
пуля́ть (puljátʹ)

Descendants

→ Yakut: буулдьа (buulca)