ковёр

Russian

Alternative forms

• ковёръ (kovjór) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)

Etymology

Usually explained as an early Turkic borrowing (< Proto-Turkic *köbüŕ). Compare Slovak and Czech koberec, Polish kobierzec, archaic Bulgarian губер (guber).

Mikkola, quoted by Vasmer and Karl Brugmann, derives the Russian word from Old Norse kǫgurr (“quilt”). This derivation is difficult for phonetic and semantic reasons and fails to explain the Czech and Bulgarian cognates.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): [kɐˈvʲɵr]

Noun

ковёр • (kovjór) m inan (genitive ковра́, nominative plural ковры́, genitive plural ковро́в, relational adjective ковро́вый, diminutive ко́врик)

1. rug, carpet
   • 1820, Александр Пушкин, “Песнь первая”, in Руслан и Людмила; English translation from Roger Clarke, transl., Ruslan and Ludmila, 2005–17:

     Свершились милые надежды,
     Любви готовятся дары;
     Падут ревнивые одежды
     На цареградские ковры…

     Sveršilisʹ milyje nadeždy,
     Ljubvi gotovjatsja dary;
     Padut revnivyje odeždy
     Na caregradskije kovry…

     Their dreams of fondness were fulfilled,
     all that love offered now was ready.
     Garments, resented and resentful,
     dropped down upon Byzantine rugs…

Declension

Declension of ковёр (inan masc-form hard-stem accent-b reduc) 

	singular	plural
nominative	ковёр kovjór	ковры́ kovrý
genitive	ковра́ kovrá	ковро́в kovróv
dative	ковру́ kovrú	ковра́м kovrám
accusative	ковёр kovjór	ковры́ kovrý
instrumental	ковро́м kovróm	ковра́ми kovrámi
prepositional	ковре́ kovré	ковра́х kovráx

Derived terms

• ковёрный (kovjórnyj)

Related terms

• ковёр-самолёт (kovjór-samoljót)
• ковроли́н (kovrolín)

Descendants

• → Yakut: көбүөр (köbüör)
• → Yiddish: קאַוויאָר (kavyor)

Further reading

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