жито

Bulgarian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *žito.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʒito]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

жи́то • (žíto) n (relational adjective жи́тен)

1. (singular only) wheat
2. (singular only) wheat kernel
3. (plural only) wheat field
4. (singular only) grain

Declension

Declension of жи́то

	singular	plural
indefinite	жи́то žíto	жита́ žitá
definite	жи́тото žítoto	жита́та žitáta

Macedonian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *žito (“grain, corn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʒitɔ]

Noun

жито • (žito) n (relational adjective житен)

1. grain, cereal

Declension

Declension of жито

	singular	plural
indefinite	жито (žito)	жита (žita)
definite unspecified	житото (žitoto)	житата (žitata)
definite proximal	житово (žitovo)	житава (žitava)
definite distal	житоно (žitono)	житана (žitana)
vocative	жито (žito)	жита (žita)

Old Church Slavonic

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *žito (“grain, corn”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *géiˀta, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃tom, from *gʷeyh₃-.

Noun

жито • (žito) n

1. grain
   • from the Homily against the Bogumils, 1794-1796:

     бо би велѣлъ богъ не дѣлати чловѣкомъ то бꙑлиѥ жито би раждало и лѣсъ грозниѥ.

     bo bi velělŭ bogŭ ne dělati člověkomŭ to bylije žito bi raždalo i lěsŭ groznije.

     If God had ordered men not to work, plants would grow grain and woods grapes.

Declension

Declension of жито (o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	жито žito	житѣ žitě	жита žita
genitive	жита žita	житоу žitu	житъ žitŭ
dative	житоу žitu	житома žitoma	житомъ žitomŭ
accusative	жито žito	житѣ žitě	жита žita
instrumental	житомъ žitomŭ	житома žitoma	житꙑ žity
locative	житѣ žitě	житоу žitu	житѣхъ žitěxŭ
vocative	жито žito	житѣ žitě	жита žita

Russian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *žito (“grain, corn”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *géiˀta, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃tom, from *gʷeyh₃-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʐɨtə]

Noun

жи́то • (žíto) n inan (genitive жи́та, nominative plural жи́та, genitive plural жит)

1. grain (any unground grain, such as rye, wheat, buckwheat, millet, barley, maize, oats)
2. (dated or regional, Belarus or Ukraine) rye

   Synonym: рожь (rožʹ)

Declension

Declension of жи́то (inan neut-form hard-stem accent-a) 

	singular	plural
nominative	жи́то žíto	жи́та žíta
genitive	жи́та žíta	жи́т žít
dative	жи́ту žítu	жи́там žítam
accusative	жи́то žíto	жи́та žíta
instrumental	жи́том žítom	жи́тами žítami
prepositional	жи́те žíte	жи́тах žítax

Pre-reform declension of жи́то (inan neut-form hard-stem accent-a) 

	singular	plural
nominative	жи́то žíto	жи́та žíta
genitive	жи́та žíta	жи́тъ žít
dative	жи́ту žítu	жи́тамъ žítam
accusative	жи́то žíto	жи́та žíta
instrumental	жи́томъ žítom	жи́тами žítami
prepositional	жи́тѣ žítě	жи́тахъ žítax

Related terms

• жи́тница f (žítnica)

Further reading

• Dal, Vladimir (1880–1882) “жито”, in Толковый Словарь живаго великорускаго языка [Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language] (in Russian), 2nd edition, Publication of the bookseller-typographer Wolf, M. O.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *žito, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *géiˀta, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷéyh₃tom, from *gʷeyh₃-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒîto/

Noun

жи̏то n (Latin spelling žȉto)

1. wheat
2. koliva

Declension

Declension of жито

	singular	plural
nominative	жито	жита
genitive	жита	жита
dative	житу	житима
accusative	жито	жита
vocative	жито	жита
locative	житу	житима
instrumental	житом	житима

Further reading

• “жито”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Ukrainian

Etymology

From Middle Ukrainian жито (žyto), from Proto-Slavic *žito (“grain, corn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʒɪtɔ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

жи́то • (žýto) n inan (genitive жи́та, uncountable, relational adjective жи́тній)

1. rye

Declension

Declension of жи́то
(inan sg-only hard neut-form accent-a)

	singular
nominative	жи́то žýto
genitive	жи́та žýta
dative	жи́тові, жи́ту žýtovi, žýtu
accusative	жи́то žýto
instrumental	жи́том žýtom
locative	жи́ті žýti
vocative	жи́то žýto

Further reading

• Bilodid, I. K., editor (1970–1980), “жито”, in Словник української мови: в 11 т. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 11 vols] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka
• Shyrokov, V. A., editor (2010–2025), “жито”, in Словник української мови: у 20 т. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 20 vols] (in Ukrainian), volumes 1–15 (а – п'ять), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka; Ukrainian Lingua-Information Fund, →ISBN
• “жито”, in Горох – Словозміна [Horokh – Inflection] (in Ukrainian)
• “жито”, in Словник.ua [Slovnyk.ua] (in Ukrainian)